Breaking Silence
by toomanyfandomssolittletime
Summary: The world was always a bit strange for Charlotte Connor and her daughter Hannah, who's been deaf since she was three, even before it ended. Now the dead are rising, eating the living. All that matters is surviving. But what will happen when the past comes knocking?
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my OCs._

_'Sign Language'_

_Thoughts_

The world had always been a strange place for Charlotte Connor, even before it ended. She was a waitress in a small town about three hours away from Atlanta. Though that's not where she was now. She was sitting in a hospital room watching her daughter's breathing in and out. She'd just gotten out of surgery an hour before. Her daughter Hannah had gone deaf by the age of three. Finally, after years of working three jobs and getting a small inheritance from her mother, she could afford getting her daughter a cochlear implant. She had to pay out of her pocket, since their health insurance didn't cover it. It took some time but they'd finally made it. They were in Atlanta, in the room. Now she just had to wait until Hannah woke up to put on the external part, after that, poof she'd be able to hear. It would take some time for her to be able to adapt but Charlotte knew her daughter was strong enough to make it. She could be anything she wanted to now with no restrictions. Charlotte looked over to see the external part sitting on the night stand waiting. Before the surgery, Hannah's doctor taught her how to install it in her daughter's ear. For the first time in forever her daughter would be able to hear her voice. The thought made Charlotte smile.

Charlotte must've nodded off. When she woke her daughter was still asleep but the daylight was fading. Hannah was affected by the anesthesia more so than most people. It knocked her out for hours. It was a mystery to most doctors but it didn't worry Charlotte all that much. Anesthesia affect everyone differently. She heard a scream coming from the hall. She stood up and cautiously went to the window that peered in the hall. Her heart leapt out of her chest when a man started pounding on the door. His eyes were clouded, dead. Charlotte stumbled back in surprise. This couldn't be real. This had to be a dream. She pinched her arm in hopes that she would wake back up in the chair. It did nothing. She was awake. The news was right. The virus was true. It wasn't some bath salts trip. Now they were in the hospital. No, this place was supposed to be safe. Charlotte made sure of it. Other hospitals were supposed to send their patients to this one. There was supposed to be a refugee center. The monsters were inside. They were close to her baby. She had to make a plan. They couldn't stay here anymore.

The man was still pounding on the door trying to get in. There was a loud bang and suddenly he dropped. She covered her mouth to keep from screaming. Charlotte looked out the window again and saw one of the gurneys. They had to get out. Find someplace safe. There was a refugee center, right? She recalled the news saying that if it got bad, there would be a refugee center in Atlanta. Now they just have to get there. She took a deep breath before opening the door. Outside, the sounds of people screaming filled her ears. The sound of moaning and groans pierced her heart. She swallowed back her fear and dragged the bed in her daughter's room. The hallway was clear, except for the corpse of the man that was shot. She felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumped and saw a man in an Atlanta police uniform. He had dark brown hair with equally dark eyes. His police uniform looked to be stained with blood.

"You bit?" His deep voice asked. Charlotte frantically shook her head. "Good, we gotta get outta here. Came here to help evac the hospital only to find it crawling with these things. The city is bein' overrun. We gotta get as far as we can from here." He tried to lead her away.

"To the refugee center?" She asked, Monroe gave her a look.

"Sorry to tell you this darlin' but there ain't no refugee centre." Monroe's statement sucked the hope right out of her soul. There was no refugee centre. "We gotta get outta Atlanta. Get away as far as you can." He pulled her hand to try and make her leave the room.

"No. My daughter is in that room. She's unconscious. I'm not leavin' without her." Charlotte firmly told him.

"Why's she in the hospital?" The officer growled he had his gun trailed on her.

"Cochlear Implant." Charlotte frantically told him. "Got out of surgery maybe about five hours ago. Can you help me get her out of here?" She asked the man, he nodded and the pushed the gurney in the tiny hospital room. Luckily, Hannah didn't have tubes connected. Apart from the IV.

"What's your name?" The cop asked

"Charlotte. My daughter's name is Hannah." She said. "You?"

"Monroe. Officer Monroe." He shook her hand. "Don't worry, I'll get you both safely outta here." Monroe reassured as he gently lifted Hannah up in and placed her on the gurney. Charlotte grabbed the bag and the external part of the implant and tossed them on the empty part of the rolling bed.

She pushed it until they reached the door. Monroe gave her a questioning look, as though asking if she was ready. Hesitantly, she nodded and he opened the door. They didn't waste a moment before running down the hall. Charlotte had to keep her fear at bay as the screams from unsuspecting victims echoed through the halls.

"Keep going." Monroe urged as they reached the elevator. Thank god the power was still on. The elevator door opened, there was one of those things inside. It was a nurse in bright pink scrubs. There was a nasty red bite mark on her throat. The scrubs were stained with dried blood. This hospital seemed to have fallen so quickly. Charlotte yelped in horror as the cop raised his gun and pulled the trigger. The nurse sank to the ground. Monroe urged her forward.

"How far is your car from the hospital?" He asked once they were safely behind the closed doors. Charlotte kept looking down at her daughter still sleeping soundly. She was almost thankful that her daughter couldn't hear what was going on around her. It felt like a nightmare. "Hey! Where's your car?"

"North Garage." She had to think about it for a second.

"Fuck." He cursed. "Too far." Charlotte felt the panic bubble in her chest. An idea came to mind.

"There's got to be an empty ambulance nearby." She suggested.

"There was one by the emergency room." Monroe recalled. "Problem is its full of them. There's a side door that leads to the road but we can't bring the bed in there. It'll slow us down."

"I'm not leavin' her." Charlotte told him again.

"I'm not askin' you too. You carry her. I'll have the bags and cover you." He reassured. "We'll get out of here, I promise." She gave a curt nod saying she understood the plan. Charlotte took the IV out of her daughters arm and lifted up on her hip. It was a good thing her daughter was so light and small. She took after her mother in the slender and quick metabolism. Charlotte draped her daughter's arms around neck and as the doors to the first floor opened.

The hall was eerily quiet. Monroe kept his gun cocked as they started running down the hall. Their footsteps echoed through the empty hall. The lights started flickering until they went out entirely. The power must've been cut. If they gotten in the elevator a minute later, they'd would've gotten stuck. They rounded the corner but Monroe pushed her back when they saw the hall full of the diseased.

"Oh my god." Charlotte started shaking out of fear. She looked down at her sleeping daughter. "I'm sorry baby." She whispered into her long brown hair. She blinked back the tears in her eyes. Monroe tapped her on the shoulder. He pointed to the office down the right side. There was a window. They could get out. Charlotte nodded understanding what he was saying.

"Go first, I'll cover your back." Monroe said.

Charlotte was hesitant to go first but she had to trust the cop. He'd gotten them this far. He could've left them on the third floor. Charlotte nodded and stepped in front of him. The groans of the diseased got louder and louder. She peered over her shoulder to see Monroe there following her closely. Charlotte shielded her daughter's head and sprinted to the slightly ajar door. That was when she heard the scream and the loud bang echoed through the hall. She felt a hand push her forward.

"GO!" Monroe forced her forward until they reached the office. He shut the door behind them. Charlotte turned to see half a dozen rotting faces in the tiny window pounding at the door. She heard a moan of pain. She turned to see Monroe leaning on the desk covering his shoulder.

"Monroe, you okay?" She asked.

"You don't have a lot of time." He said weakly. She could see the blood pouring between his fingers.

"What happened to you?" She asked

"Got bit." He said shortly. Charlotte gasped when he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. The skin around the bite was raw and bloody. Like the nurse in the elevator. "You gotta get outta here. Go through the window and make a run to the ambulance. Take this." He handed her the bag and held out his pistol. "I'll distract them."

"I can't take that." Charlotte shook her head. "You need something to defend yourself."

"You need it more than I do." He kept held out and banging on the door got louder. "I promised I'd get you and your little girl out of here." She was felt the tears flow from her eyes and took the pistol. The gun felt heavy in her hand. "I'm a goner anyway. Just get out now." He yelled. Charlotte nodded and sprinted to the window. Hannah was starting to get heavier in her arms. She shifted her daughter over to her other hip and opened the window. She looked back at the police officer's matted brown hair. "Go!" He ordered and she pushed herself out.

She shut the window behind her and started running in the direction of the emergency room, ignoring the cries of her savior. The path to the ambulance was clear. All the diseased seemed to be in the hospital. Charlotte ran with one hand under her daughter's butt and kept her gun raised. The adrenaline was pumping through her veins. The white vehicle sat just on the side of the road in front of the building. The street was dark and empty which was odd. There were cars abandoned in the middle of the road but she knew she could weave around it.

"It's okay baby, I'm gonna get us out of here." She reassured the sleeping body of her daughter. Charlotte always marveled how deeply Hannah could sleep. She was literally sleeping through the end of the world. The quiet bothered her. Shouldn't there be panic in the streets? Shouldn't there be more of those things? Not that she wasn't happy there weren't more but still, it didn't sit right.

She pushed away her uneasy feelings and opened the passenger side door to the ambulance. She put Hannah in the seat and put on the seat belt. Charlotte then ran to her side and got in the driver's seat. She fiddled around looking for any keys.

"Ha ha!" She cried out of joy when the set of keys dropped on her lap. "Thank you careless ambulance driver!" She turned on the ignition and started driving. The closer she got to downtown, the busier the streets got. People were running around, buildings were on fire. If it wasn't for the smell of burning flesh that stung her nose or the sounds of people screaming, she would've of thought it was a really terrifying movie. She could see infected people attacking normal people. Charlotte swallowed the bile that rose in her throat when she saw a group of five or so infected surrounding a body ripping it apart. Blood and corpses littered the street. She swerved around running bodies. Some slammed on the hood of the car begging to get in. She wanted to help them. She really did but her priority was Hannah. It would always be Hannah.

It got harder to get through the mobs. The traffic was getting to be too much. Every one was trying to get out of the city. _Okay, everyone is trying to get out of the city and no one is trying to get in the city._ She threw the vehicle in reverse and floored it to the nearest on ramp. Just as she suspected, the other side of the highway was empty. She looked at her side mirror, the city was getting further away. That was when she saw the fire. They were dropping bombs in the streets. All those people. All dead. She could've saved them. The guilt rose in her chest. Monroe was dead because of her. Did he have a family? He had to and now they'd never see him again. It was all her fault. Maybe if she'd gone second she could've protected him somehow, or if she'd moved faster. He was ripped apart so they could get away.

There was shuffling coming from next to her. She looked over at Hannah. Her daughter was just starting to wake up, finally.

_'Where are we?'_ Her daughter signed completely lost. Charlotte didn't want to have to explain all that she'd seen. Not yet.

"Go back to sleep." She faced her daughter so that Hannah could read her lips. Charlotte had no clue where she was driving. All she knew was that there had to be somewhere safe. She looked back to see Hannah staring out the window. Charlotte blinked back tears at the sight of smoke rising from the city.

**I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. Next one Charlotte and Hannah will meet the rest of the group. I have the first part of the story already written so I'll update soon. Anyway please Review, Favourite or Follow.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but Hannah and Charlotte**

_'Sign Language'_

_Thoughts/memories_

They drove for what felt like hours. The horizon was beginning to get lighter as the sun rose. A new day. She scoffed at the thought. They'd went from normality to shit hitting the fan in the span of twenty-four hours. She cursed as the ambulance sputtered. She pulled off to the side before the vehicle came to a stop. They had run out of gas.

"Shit." She cursed. Hannah looked up at her mother and tilted her head. She looked scared. There were no cars on either side of the road. They were stranded. They were screwed. Completely and utterly screwed.

_'Mom, what's happening?'_ Her daughter signed, the fear filling her dark brown eyes.

_'I'm sorry Hannah.'_ Charlotte let the tears run down her face. They wouldn't get far. Hannah was still weak from the anesthesia. Charlotte was exhausted and couldn't carry her.

Charlotte sat in the driver's seat, contemplating there next move when the sound of an engine caught her off guard. She looked in her side mirror to see a white van coming closer. She looked up at the sky, thanking whatever deity was listening and leapt out of the ambulance.

_'Stay here until I get you.'_ She ordered her daughter who was eyeing her from the passenger side. She tucked Monroe's pistol in her waistband, hoping that Hannah didn't see it. Charlotte started waving her arms madly, hoping the driver could see her. Apparently he did. The white van, which she noticed was a church van, stopped right in front of her. The passenger side window rolled down. Inside there were two men, one was a young Asian man wearing a baseball cap and jersey while the driver was a bigger black bald man.

"What seems to be the problem?" The black man asked.

"I ran out of gas." She bit her lip nervously. She hoped these men wouldn't just drive off. "My daughter and I, we just got out of the city. Can you please help us?"

"Yeah. Just warning you, we don't really know where we're going." The black man said.

"I don't care. Just get us off this highway." Charlotte firmly told them. "Let me just grab my kid." They both nodded and she crawled back in the ambulance. Hannah waited expectantly for her mother's return.

_'Crawl over here. We're going in the van.'_ She explained

_'Where are we going? What's happening?'_ Hannah pestered her mother with questions.

_'I promise I'll tell you everything later. We have to go.'_ Charlotte's urgency must've made Hannah understand. Her daughter nodded and crawled over to her, still in her hospital gown. Charlotte leaned over the minute Hannah was out of the ambulance and grabbed the bag. It wasn't a big bag, since they'd only planned on staying at the hospital overnight, Charlotte only brought Hannah's bag thinking she'd be able to get her's later. She could feel the cold gun pressed against the swell of her back. She didn't know how to use it but it was better than having no protection at all. Hannah grabs her hand and they walk towards the van. They must've looked bizarre since Hannah was barefoot and in a hospital gown.

"What's your name?" The young Asian kid spoke up for the first time.

"My name's Charlotte Connor and this is my daughter Hannah." Out of habit, Charlotte found herself signing as she spoke. "What about you?"

"I'm Glenn Rhee." The young Asian said. "That's Theodore Douglas."

"Most people call me T-Dog." The black man said. Charlotte spelt out both names for Hannah. She noticed the curious gaze of the two men.

"She's deaf." Charlotte explained after noticing the gaze. She ushered Hannah into the back seat and the van drove off.

* * *

Hannah was still very confused over what was happening. Last thing she remembered was her mom smiling at her before the doctor put her to sleep. Next thing she knew, her mother was driving like a mad woman on the wrong side of the highway. There were flames coming from the city in the mirror. What happened? They weren't in the hospital anymore but they were in an ambulance. Weirdest thing was that she still couldn't hear. Hannah lifted her hand and touched behind her left ear. She could feel the stitches that meant she'd gotten the operation. Yet she still couldn't hear. Not that she was complaining. If she were being honest, the thought of hearing was terrifying. She was so used to the silence. The only reason she agreed to the procedure was to make for her mother's sake. Hannah knew her deafness made life hard for her mom.

Hannah pulled away from her mother at looked her in the eyes.

_'It's later.'_ She had a right to know what happened. Her mother took a deep breath and started to explain everything. How she'd woken in the hospital room and saw a man attacking the door. How she and some cop got Hannah out of the hospital, how he had been bite by one of those things and had died. She noticed her mother tearing up at the mention of the man that sacrificed himself for them. She told her about how they got out of Atlanta and how the city was in flames. She'd seen that part._ 'What were those things?'_

_'I don't know. Everything is going to be O.K.'_ Despite her mother's assurance, Hannah's fright didn't lessen. If anything it increased. They didn't know what these things were.

* * *

Charlotte watched her daughter intently as Hannah drifted off to sleep. As she explained the story to her, Charlotte spoke so that the boys could hear. Hannah wasn't the only one asking questions. She'd told them how they'd been at the hospital and it was overrun but they'd managed to get out.

"That's why she's in the hospital gown?" Glenn had asked.

"Yeah, she was recoverin'." Charlotte explained. "There's gotta be somewhere safe."

"T-Dog, take a left up here. There's a quarry on the map. We could spend the night there, keep going in the morning." Glenn's plan was the best. At the thought of sleep, Charlotte yawned. She hadn't slept since the hospital. That felt like days ago. It would give Hannah time to clean up, change her clothes. The problem was, Hannah didn't seem to have any shoes. Charlotte cursed herself for forgetting the shoes. They turned and started up the path to the quarry.

"I don't think we're alone here." T-Dog stated at the sight of a big RV at the top of the hill.

"Should we turn around?" Charlotte asked

"No, we can't risk wasting gas. Besides, this place is high so we can spot the geeks but it's close enough to the city so we can flag down help if it ever comes." Glenn explained. Charlotte nodded as they got closer to the top of the hill.

The camp was pretty bare when they got there. There were only three cars there, including the RV. Charlotte saw a small group coming towards them. She shook her daughter awake. 'We're staying here the night.' Hannah nodded and they got out of the van. She gripped her daughter's hand tightly. As though it was the only thing keeping her standing. There were about nine people standing there eyeing the new arrivals. Charlotte let her eyes drift over them. They stopped at the man with brown eyes and equally brown curly hair.

"Who're you?" He asked

"My name's Glenn, this is T-Dog, Charlotte and Hannah." He introduced them. "We just came from Atlanta."

"Atlanta is still up?" A brown haired woman asked.

"No." Charlotte spoke up this time. "We barely got out."

"My name's Shane." The curly haired man stated and turned to his group. "That's Lori and Carl." He pointed to the long haired woman and the boy at her side. "That's Ed, Carol and Sophia Pelletier." He continued to the small family on his left. Charlotte pulled Hannah closer at the sight of Ed Pelletier. Something didn't sit right in her stomach when she felt his gaze on her. "Next we got Andrea, Amy and Dale." Charlotte spelt all the names out for Hannah.

"Why is she in a hospital gown?" The long brown haired woman, Lori, asked.

"It's a long story." She stated.

"Why don't you get some rest?" Shane suggested seeing the obvious exhaustion on the woman's face.

"You both can stay in the RV." The old man, Dale, told them. "Take the table, it goes into a bed." Charlotte smiled gratefully and pulled Hannah towards the vehicle. There was a bed set up where the table would normally be. Charlotte put the backpack on the counter next to the table/bed. This little bag, this was all they had left. Charlotte didn't even have anything in it. She'd left all her stuff in their car, thinking they'd be able to leave when Hannah woke up to go to the hotel. They didn't have any pictures left. All their family heirlooms were still in Henessey. Now all they had was a change of clothes for Hannah, her tooth brush, the external part of a cochlear implant, a book and a police issued pistol. That was it. Would they ever make it home again? Charlotte got the sinking feeling they wouldn't. After Hannah got changed, she crawled up on the bed and curled into her mother's chest.

"It's all gonna be alright." Charlotte reassured Hannah, though she knew she couldn't hear her. Maybe Charlotte was just trying to reassure herself. She slipped into a deep sleep. The visions of dead decaying hands filled her mind. Had they not found T and Glenn, who knows what would've happened?

* * *

Hannah woke up the next morning confused. It took her a minute to remember what happened. They were in some man's RV because the dead started coming back to life. Hannah wanted to go home back to her bed, her posters on her walls, the big oak tree on her front lawn, just everything. Her mother was still sleeping soundly next to her. She looked so tired when they got in the van. She crawled out of the bed and stood in the hall. One of the men that rescued them off the highway, mom said his name was Glenn, asleep in the passenger seat of the RV. There were two sleeping bags on the ground. She looked down and saw that she was still in the hospital gown. Her ear felt sore from the surgery. She grabbed the bag on the counter and went to change in the bathroom. She had the choice between the shirt she wore to the hospital, a black Nashville Predators short sleeved shirt that her aunt sent her over Christmas, she wasn't much of a hockey fan but her aunt was, or her plaid button up shirt. She chose the plaid shirt and threw on her jeans. She was still barefoot since she didn't have any shoes. It was kind of depressing to think that she didn't even have a pair of shoes or slippers. She had socks but what was the point in wearing them if she didn't have shoes. Instead she rolled up the bottom of her pants so they wouldn't drag on the ground.

The air in the RV was stale. Hannah was feeling claustrophobic. She stepped outside, the fresh air filled her lungs. Luckily there were no too many rocks on the ground to hurt her feet. There was a small fire going in between the three cars. She saw the two kids from last night sitting on the ground with a game of chess. They both looked to be about her age. The boy had short brown hair with blue eyes that made a cool looking contrast. He was thin and small, maybe even the same height as she was. The girl was tall and thin. Her hair was in a short dark blond pixie cut and hazel eyes. Her height said that she was twelve but she looked younger.

It seemed to take the group a while before they realized she was standing there. The really skinny woman with long brown hair came over to her. Hannah noticed that her dark brown eyes were sad. Even when she smiled, Hannah could see that they never reached higher than her lips. The woman, her mom told her the name but Hannah couldn't remember it. She started speaking but Hannah only caught every other word. The woman looked away and pointed over to the two kids. Trying to read her lips was hard. She was speaking too fast for her to understand. It was overwhelming. Hannah knew she had to say something. She could speak, she just preferred not to. She'd been in speech therapy since she was five years old. She hated it but it made life easier.

"I'm sorry, you need to speak slower for me to understand. I'm deaf." She explained. "I can read your lips."

"Oh, okay." She read on her lips. "I'm Lori. Over there there's my son Carl and Carol's daughter Sophia."

"Okay." She nodded. "My name is Hannah." She held out her hand so Lori could shake it. The older woman led her over to the other kids. The two looked up when she approached them. Hannah picked her thumb nail nervously. She never got along with hearing kids. They would bully her because she was different. None of them understood what it was like to be thrown into a completely different culture than their family.

"Do you want to play." It was Carl that asked. It caught her off guard that he'd ask. She grown so used to being ignored by hearing kids. Back at school, she had one friend, his name was Jesse Ryan but he moved away last year. She was used to being on her own. She liked it that way. The two kids waited for an answer. She bit the inside of her cheek and nodded.

"It's Hannah, right." Sophia questioned, she nodded. She took a seat on the ground next to them. She watched as the two continued their game. Carl moved his knight taking out one of Sophia's pawns. Hannah was good at chess. She and her Granny used to play sometimes. Chess will teach things life can't. Hannah never understood what she meant by it. Maybe it meant patience since the game lasted for way too long.

"If you move your bishop a little to the left, you will have Carl's king cornered. Winning the game." Hannah pointed out to Sophia. Both of them seemed caught off guard by the sound of her voice. Maybe it was because of her accent or because they weren't expecting her to be able to talk. She got that quite often. Sophia looked and grinned doing exactly what Hannah told her to.

Carl had managed to find a deck of cards. They wound up playing a round of Crazy Eights. Her mom had finally emerged from the RV. She had a bewildered expression on her face but it calmed the minute she set her eyes on Hannah. She would probably get a lecture later but for right now she was okay with just playing cards with other kids her age. The man that talked to her mom yesterday came up and ruffled Carl's hair.

"You're dad seems nice." Hannah pointed out.

"Shane's not my dad. My dad died." Carl explained

"Sorry." She felt like a jerk just assuming he was Carl's dad.

"It's okay. Where's your dad." Carl asked

"Never met him. He left before I was born." Hannah hoped she didn't sound bitter. She'd always wanted to meet him and as him why he left.

"Sucks doesn't it?" Carl asked, she noticed that Sophia didn't say anything. She still had her father Hannah guessed.

"Yeah it does." Hannah found herself signing as she spoke. It probably looked weird to the two hearing kids since she was doing it with cards in her hands. Although Hannah didn't know what it was like to have a dad so she couldn't really understand what he was going through. Maybe it was better that way, her dad had no idea who she was. She didn't have to go through what Carl did.

**Thank you guys for all the follows/favourites and to my one review! You guys are awesome. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I particularly love writing as Hannah, since I think she's an interesting character. Tell me what you think! I'll update soon. **

**PS: When it comes to writing for Hannah, I don't put question marks when people are speaking to her since she can't hear the tone when they ask questions. It's not because I don't know grammar. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

_'Sign Language'_

_Thoughts/flashback_

_A one week later:_

Hannah and Charlotte were settling into their lives at camp. Hannah was even beginning to make friends with Carl and Sophia. There was the whole language barrier but from what Charlotte gathered, Hannah was teaching them some of the basics. Charlotte felt an overwhelming sense of pride watching her teach Carl to say things like 'I like cheese.' Ever since she started going to speech therapy, she'd gotten really good at talking. She had a thick accent when she spoke, which was natural for deaf people to have since they couldn't hear themselves speak. Hannah's wasn't as thick as other deaf children she'd met since she'd been working on it longer. It was difficult at first but her daughter pulled her way through.

Over the past week, the camp grew considerably. Every day someone new came. Hannah flat out refused to wear her CI for the time being. It frustrated Charlotte but she understood. Her daughter was scared. It was terrifying enough being able to hear for the first time in her life but to do it in this world, Charlotte could understand. The downside to this choice was that it put Hannah in constant danger. If a walker, that's what they started calling them, ventured up the mountain, Hannah wouldn't be able to know if it was right behind her. This meant that Charlotte had to be extra vigilant. She couldn't lose her daughter. She always kept Monroe's gun stashed in the their tent. Glenn started going out to the nearby towns to get some supplies. This was how most people found them at the quarry. On their second day at the quarry, Glenn managed to find them a tent. That meant Andrea and Amy got their bed back. T-Dog and Glenn slept on the ground in the RV. They figured Hannah and Charlotte should get the tent so they would have more room, even if they didn't own much anymore.

The grumbling of a motorcycle broke everyone out of their routine. Charlotte looked down at Hannah who was happily playing cards with Sophia, Carl and the Morales kids, who had just arrived three days earlier. Charlotte was teaching Lori and Carol some basic signing so they could communicate with Hannah to an extent. Charlotte loved that they were willing to, they were already a step above practically all the teachers at Hannah's school. Carol told the kids to stay there, that they'd be right back. She walked over to the front of the camp when she saw a motorcycle coming up a hill, followed closely by a truck. Everyone gathered around, the men had baseball bats and crowbars. With the exception of Shane and Dale who had guns trailed on them.

"What a welcome." She heard a thick Northern Georgian accent. The man was big and wore a loose black vest on top of a stained white wife beater, Charlotte noticed the crew cut, he sure didn't look like he was in the military. His hair light brown, nearly blond with blue eyes. He had sort of an arrogance to him. Charlotte could already tell he was a redneck.

"Who're you?" Shane asked.

"Name's Merle. The one in the truck's mah brother Daryl." Charlotte froze at the name. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't be him. She felt her heart drop as the man exited the truck. She felt the color drain from her face at the sight of the dark blue eyes she hadn't seen in years. He still looked the same as he did then. Except maybe a bit older. There were a few wrinkles around his eyes but otherwise, it was the same man. He froze when he saw her. "Crossed paths with yer guy Glenn. Said we'd find a safe place up here." Merle kept talking but Charlotte felt as though her world was ending, again. She kept staring at the man who broke her heart and left her alone. His eyes widened in disbelief. Those bright blue eyes that she saw every time she looked at Hannah.

"Glenn okay?" She heard Lori ask. Charlotte wasn't listening though, she just kept staring at Daryl.

"Well, your welcome to stay here. Set up your stuff wherever you'd like." Dale told them. Daryl broke the stare, nodded curtly and grabbed their stuff out of the truck bed.

Turns out, they'd started setting up their tent close to where Charlotte and Hannah were stationed. Was there nowhere left where she didn't already feel haunted by him? She wanted to keep her daughter away from them. Charlotte didn't want her daughter to get hurt the same way she did. Daryl split the minute things started getting complicated. Charlotte never told him about Hannah. He'd left, what right did he have to be a father? Besides, Merle was a complete ass from what Daryl told her.

"Where's Hannah?" Charlotte asked the kids, feeling the same worried tremor in her voice that her mother used to have.

"She said she was going to get a book from her tent for me." Carl spoke up.

"Thanks." Charlotte said and she walked back to her tent.

She got there to find Hannah standing book in her hand. Merle was standing just off to the side talking at her. Hannah seemed to petrified to move.

"Wha's wrong lil' girl?" She heard Merle ask. "Why ain't you sayin' a word?" Charlotte came up behind her daughter and tapped her on the shoulder. Hannah looked relived to see her mother. She had to fight to keep her annoyance at bay. How dare he talk to her.

_'Go back to the other kids.'_ She commanded her daughter. Hannah nodded and took off to the kids.

"She retarded or somethin'?" Merle asked, Charlotte felt the rage burst in her chest. She stepped forward ready to pounce on him.

"You watch what you say." She growled. She hated when people called her daughter that, she spent a majority of Hannah's life defending her to other people. Hannah was a very smart kid, she was much more advanced than most kids her age. Hell, she was practically an art prodigy. People judged her because she was different.

"What? Jus' an observation." This seemed to push Charlotte overboard. She lunged towards him but felt a hand snake around her waist.

"Charlotte, calm down." She heard Shane's voice order.

"That simple minded piece of shit called mah daughter retarded." Charlotte explained trying to claw her way out of Shane's grip. She looked up to see Merle laughing. She wanted to smack the smirk off his face.

"I like 'em feisty." Charlotte's nostrils flared at the comment. She saw a hand go and push Merle back. It was Daryl.

"Merle, back the fuck off." He grumbled. Merle stood still before backing off and going back to their tent.

"Are you calm?" Shane asked the woman. Charlotte took a deep breath than nodded.

"Keep 'im away from me 'n my daughter." She said after Shane released her. Shane nodded understanding before going towards the Dixon camp. She sure as hell wasn't moving her tent. They'd been here first.

"Charlie, wait!" She heard the very voice that used to make her heart flutter when she was younger, he was the only one she ever let call her Charlie. Now, his voice, all it did was fill her with anger and bitterness. She felt a hand reach and grab her wrist.

"What?" She snapped. "What d'ya want from me Daryl?"

"Can we talk?"

"I got nothin' to say to ya. 'N don't call me Charlie." Charlotte coldly told him. "We may hafta live in the same camp but that does not mean we have to acknowledge each others existence." All that anger she'd kept bottled in for all this time was just let out. She needed him to stay away from them. She wasn't about to let herself or her daughter get hurt by him.

* * *

Daryl stood there watching Charlie walk away. He couldn't believe she was here. When they said it was a small world, they sure as hell weren't kidding. She changed a lot over the years. She looked tired now. When he first met her, she was talkative and energetic. Now she was silent, calm. She didn't wear glasses anymore, though he could still see her squinting on occasion. She probably didn't even notice. Time changed her. Him not so much. He was still the selfish asshole she met all those years ago because Merle got appendicitis.

_"Baby brother, I think this might be the end." Merle was doubled over groaning and clutching his side. They were in a hospital room, it was too sterile for Daryl's liking. How they were going to pay for this was beyond him but Merle needed help._

_"Quit yer whining ya pussy." Daryl grunted. "Yer gonna be just fine."_

_"Feels like my insides are 'bout ta burst." He kept complaining, it was getting on his nerves. He was grumbling three times as loud as the three other guys in the room. Mind you, one of them was unconscious._

_"Need some air." Daryl got up from his chair and made his way out of the room._

_"Hey! See what kind of painkillers they got." Merle called after him. Daryl brushed him off and kept walking. He found himself in the hall, doctors and nurses were bustling around him. He needed a smoke real bad._

_He went out of the hospital. He was sitting on the curb. He opened up the pack, took one and lit it. The nicotine tasted like shit in his mouth but he still couldn't stop. He liked smoking. He'd been doing it since he was fifteen. It took away a lot of the stress he had in his life. He faced out towards the road._

_"Ya know those things'll kill ya?" A sweet southern voice rang from behind him. Daryl turned around to see a girl standing there. She looked to be in her early twenties. She had blond hair that was tied up in a pony tail, there were light freckles on her nose. Her eyes were a bright green but they were framed with thick black glasses. She was not over the top beautiful, but a classic sort of pretty. If Merle could hear him now, he'd probably piss his pants laughing at him. Call him soft. Daryl looked over again and saw that she was wearing one of those doctor shirts and a black pencil skirt._

_"What's it to ya?" He growled._

_"Just statin' facts." She took a seat right next to him on the curb. He groaned and moved further away. She pulled a brown paper bag and started eating her lunch."Seven seconds." She mumbled._

_"What?" Daryl questioned._

_"Every time you smoke a cigarette, takes away seven seconds o' yer life." She sounded like a damn encyclopedia._

_"Ya look young ta be a doctor." He stated, clearly annoyed with the girl. She laughed._

_"Oh, I'm not a doctor. Not yet at least." She explained. "Just spilt some coffee on ma shirt 'n on o' the doctors gave me his extra scrub. I'm just workin' at the reception this summer. I'm a med student in Athens. Came here ta get experience workin' in a hospital." She kept talking. "Look at me, spillin' my life story t'a complete stranger. My names Charlotte, by the way. Charlotte Connor." He didn't really care. She was just another broad. So he said nothing. Just kept smoking his cigarette. "The polite thing for you to do here is to tell me your name."_

_"I ain't gotta tell ya shit." He grunted._

_"I'm askin' for your name, not your hand in marriage." She pointed out. "It's just a name. Harmless."_

_"Daryl." He grunted after a minute of hesitation._

_"See? Now was that so hard?" She teased smiling. Daryl thought she had a great smile. Her teeth were almost perfectly straight, one of her canine teeth was slightly out of place. " It's nice to meet you Daryl."_

She was always the bold one of the relationship. Seeing her telling off Merle, it brought him back to those days. When she got pissed, she was a force to be reckoned with. He understood her anger towards him, he was a complete dick to her. Who was the kid though? Charlie told Merle to stay away from her daughter. So she met another guy, shacked up and popped out a kid. Who was the guy? Was he here? There was that Shane guy she was nice and friendly with. Nah, can't be him. He was all cozied up with the brunette stick.

"Yo! Lil' brother. We gotta move our stuff." Merle called him over. "Can't believe we gotta move our shit 'cause o' some bitch 'n her retard kid." Daryl suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. He didn't know what the hell was up with that kid but she was still Charlie's daughter.

"Jus' shut up 'n get your shit." He grunted and picked up his bag to carry it to the other side of camp.

He could see the girl with a group of other kids. The minute he laid eyes on her, he knew she was Charlie's. She was practically a miniature version of her. The only thing he could really see that was different were her eyes. The kid had bright blue eyes as opposed to her mom who had green. Daryl always liked her eyes.

"Few weeks here, they'll have plenty o' supplies ripe for the pickin'." Merle stated as they set up their tent. "Rob 'em blind 'n be on our way." He reminded his brother. "Though I sure would like to give it to momma bear over there. I do like 'em with some fight." Daryl resisted punching his brother right in the face. He huffed and stomped off. "What? Ya call dibs?"

He ignored his dumbass of a brother and went over to the truck to get the rest of their stuff. He grabbed his crossbow and slung it around his shoulder. He took the sleeping bags out of the truck bed.

"Hi!" The old man from earlier, the one that said they could stay. "I know things got off rocky. Don't take it personally. Charlotte is just protective over Hannah." So that was the kid's name. Hannah.

"How old is the kid?" Daryl couldn't help but ask.

"Twelve." The world echoed in his ears. Twelve, no that wasn't possible. The kid, Hannah, was twelve years old. Either Charlie moved on right after they broke up or he was... _Fuck_.

**Okay, so I know this might've been done before but trust me I've got a whole bunch of tricks up my sleeve planned for them. I mean, who doesn't like Daddy Daryl? I hope that I portrayed both Merle and Daryl accurately, if not let me know and I'll get it better. Please review/follow/favourite! I'll update soon. **


	4. Chapter 4

_'Sign Language'_

_Three weeks later:_

She hadn't spoken to either Dixon brother since. They's moved their tent to the back of the tent, far enough away from her. Whenever she saw Merle, she'd send him death stares. She caught Daryl eyeing them on occasion. She knew that eventually she'd have to tell both of them the truth but she couldn't just yet. Seeing Daryl again after all these years brought too many old emotions to light. She went through waves of joy because she was seeing him again to hating him because he'd left. She always meant to tell him about Hannah but every time she picked up the phone, she dropped it. Her heart still felt torn because of him. She'd dated after him, sure, maybe even almost fell in love but no one made her feel like Daryl Dixon did.

Charlotte was pulled out of her thoughts by nails digging into her shin. She was trying to sort through Hannah's hair. She was fussy when it came to people touching her hair. She was like her father in that sense. Back when they where together, Daryl hated it when she brushed her fingers through his hair. Charlotte gave up on trying to sort through the ratty mess, instead settling to French braid it. Hannah stood up and glared at her mother. She hated getting her hair pulled.

_'Sorry.'_ Charlotte apologized. _'Go over and play with Carl. I'm helping with dinner.'_ Hannah nodded and went over to Carl who was hanging around Glenn. Charlotte noticed how close she'd gotten with both kids. She'd never seen her get so close to anyone hearing before. Maybe the end of the world made Hannah more open to others. Charlotte liked that the kids made the effort to learn her language.

They were running on the very last of the food from the last run. It was a miracle it managed to last this long. Though, much to her dismay, it did help that the Dixon brothers were almost always out hunting and bringing back squirrel or rabbit. Daryl skinned and gutted the creatures so the women didn't have to. It helped since none of them knew how to do it properly. Today, Daryl left them a half dozen squirrels. They could make a great stew with the meat and the canned veggies.

"How's Hannah doing?" She heard Andrea ask. It was Andrea, Amy and Charlotte's turn. Sometimes Charlotte questioned the division of labour in the camp. It was the woman that did laundry, cooked, those who had kids took care of the children. Charlotte felt like she'd stepped back a century.

"She's fine. Adjustin'." Charlotte replied while cutting up the freshly cooked meat. "I don' think she really understands what's happenin'."

"Do any of us really?" Andrea questioned. Charlotte had to give her that. No one understood how this just happened. One day everything was perfectly normal. The next, bam! It all went to shit.

"Fair point." Charlotte smiled. "How's Amy doin'?" She gestured to the young girl who was sitting just off to the side, turning the stick that held two more squirrels.

"Coping, I think. She wants to go back home and find our parents." Andrea explained.

"I can imagine." Charlotte stated. Andrea gave her a questioning look. "If I lost Hannah, I dunno what I'd do. I'd do all I could to find her."

After that, all conversation seemed to end. They prepared the rest of the meal in silence. It didn't take long before Amy was getting everyone gathered by the fire. They each had a bowl in hand. Charlotte knew that her daughter wasn't partial to soup since it meant she'd be slurping. She prepared Hannah a plate with no broth. She took a seat next to her by the campfire. They sat in between the Grimes family and T-Dog. After eating, Hannah curled in closer to her mother. It was nights that were the hardest for her. It was too dark for Hannah to see lips move or signs. This was the only time of the day where she felt lonely. Charlotte knew there was nothing she could do but keep her arm protectively around her. She could feel eyes on her. Charlotte's head snapped up to Daryl's steely gaze. She broke it by looking back down at her daughter.

"I found a department store that's still intact." Glenn suddenly announced. "I was going to do a run tomorrow."

"Need any help?" Shane asked

"This time, I think I might." Glenn seemed hesitant. Charlotte could understand why, he never took a group. He always just went alone.

"I'll go." T-Dog was the first one to volunteer. Followed by Jacqui, Morales, Merle - who Charlotte was content to see go- and finally Andrea, much to Amy's dismay. Andrea reasoned that she wanted to help the group. She had the gun her father gave her, though guns were not the best way to kill walkers. Charlotte understood her willingness to help. Andrea had been a civil rights lawyer before. It was in her nature to want to help. She just hoped, for Amy's sake, that the woman wasn't making a mistake.

* * *

Hannah woke up the next morning a little bit before her mother. She ripped out a page in the sketchbook, Hannah loved to draw, Glenn brought her a week ago after a run and wrote that she was going to get breakfast. She hated staying in one place for so long. She slipped into a new pair of jeans and a bright baby blue T-shirt. Her hair was coming out of the death braid her mother had made. As much as she loved her mom, she was never good at brushing hair. It hurt so much yesterday, she had tears in her eyes. She figured it was her own fault since Hannah rarely took care of her hair. It just didn't seem like that much of a concern to her. She walked around the bustling camp. She noticed one of the Dixon brothers, Shane said his name was Daryl, taking off into the woods. Looks like he would be hunting again. Mom told her to stay away from them but Hannah grew curious. What was so bad about them? Merle was mean but Daryl seemed nice enough.

Most avoided the girl, it didn't bother her. It meant she had less names to learn. She came up with special sign names for those she saw and interacted with often. She had one for Carl, Sophia, Carol, Lori, Shane, Dale, Glenn, T-Dog, Andrea, Jacqui and Amy. The only one who understood them of course was her mother. Hannah was teaching Carl and Sophia fingerspelling but it wasn't ideal for conversation. The two Morales kids, Luis and Eliza tended to keep more to themselves. She hadn't gotten the chance to get to know them all that well.

Mom explained last night that there was a group heading in the city. She thought they were crazy. The city was full of those, as her mom called them, walkers. Apparently, Glenn was taking Andrea, Jacqui, T-Dog, Mr. Morales and Merle. She had a vague sense of who Merle was. She's met him on his first day at camp. From what she could understand, he was trying to talk to her. When she didn't answer, he began to get frustrated and antagonized her. From the look of pure fury on her mom's face sent Hannah running, not back to the other kids but to Shane. She didn't want her mom to get hurt. Merle and his brother Daryl stayed away after that. No matter how many times she asked, mom wouldn't say what happened. She figured it probably had something to do with her. It always had something to do with her. She could sometimes feel Daryl staring at her. She caught him on occasion, his gaze seemed to question her very existence. She didn't dare tell her mother about this. Not because she didn't want her mom to get her, but more because she didn't want Daryl to get hurt. Her mother may look weak, but she had the protectiveness of a lioness, like the kind she watched on the Discovery Channel, watching her cub.

As much as Hannah adored her mother, she felt like she was being suffocated. For so long it was only the two of them. Now, ironically after the world ended, Hannah was finally making friends. Her mother though it seemed always kept her close. Hannah could never leave her mother's sight. Or if her mother was busy she had to always stay in sight of Lori or Carol or Dale. There was no place to be alone with her thoughts. Theoretically, she could just turn away and not be bothered but she always felt like she was being watched. The worst part was they watched her with pity. She didn't want their pity. She may be deaf and that's not an advantage at the end, but she didn't need that. Hannah was scared enough as it was. The world was a dark shitty place. A place where the weak get taken. Just as it always had been but Hannah was not weak. She'd survived in a world that tried to take her down before. Now it was no different and she just had to keep marching forward. She was a survivor, even before the world ended.

She took a seat next to her friends with a bowl of oatmeal in hand. It wasn't her favorite meal but she never complained. It could be a lot worse, they could have no food. If you could really call a pasty substance food. She felt someone pat her head. She looked up to see her mom standing there with her big eyes looking down. She had a smile plastered on her face.

_'Good morning.'_ She greeted her.

_'What's for breakfast?'_ Her mom eyed the bowl. Hannah made a face.

_'Liquid cement.'_ She laughed at the comment before getting some food herself. There was no official sign for cement but the point was still made. She always found it funny that the ASL dictionary was about a quarter of the size of the English one. Hearing people had too many words, some words that meant the same thing. Deaf people had one sign that grouped together a bunch of English words that had similar meanings.

After breakfast the group that was going on the run got ready to leave. Her mom went over and hugged both T-Dog and Glenn goodbye. Ever since they found Hannah and her mom on the highway, they became closer. Almost as though they were family, maybe they were. Hannah liked to think that if she had any brothers, they would've been like Glenn and T-Dog. She waited until her mother walked away to go see them. He was always nice to her. Especially after he and T-Dog took them off the interstate. Unlike others, like Sophia's father Ed, Glenn spoke to her even after finding out she was deaf. He sometimes sat to play cards with the kids. She pulled on his arm to get his attention. Glenn jumped and turned. Hannah giggled at him.

"Good luck." She told him. Glenn half smiled but looked nervous.

"Thanks kid." She gave him a reassuring smile. T-Dog ruffled her hair and smiled down at her. She hugged him tightly. T-Dog always gave the best hugs, well besides her mom. They broke apart and they went towards the run group. Hannah went to say goodbye to Andrea. Amy was in tears and not letting her sister go from her grip. Andrea gave Hannah a desperate look but she just shrugged and waved. Amy had a right to be worried. Andrea was the only family she had left. Hannah didn't want to imagine what the other woman was feeling right now. Hopefully, she'd never have too.

She turned when someone tapped on her shoulder. She looked back to see Lori standing there. Hannah could tell she was trying to remember some signs that her mother taught her.

_'Go ... over ... with ... C-A-R-L ... S-O-P-H-I-A.'_ Hannah smiled at the effort. Lori was learning fast. She hesitated between each sign and her finger spelling was a bit shaky but Hannah was impressed.

"Good job." Hannah congratulated the woman.

"Was it okay." She read Lori's lips.

"Yes." She signed as she spoke. "Use this sign for Carl." She did his sign name, it was a C going sideways across his eye because of his blue eyes. Lori repeated her. "And this for Sophia." The other was an S going down the side of her head and curled to the outside much like Sophia's hair. Lori followed again. She gave her a questioning look. "Sign names. Easier than finger spelling. You have one too." She put her fingers in an L and made circles down the side of her head. "'L' for Lori and the curls."

"I like it." Lori smiled and did the sign name. Hannah grinned and went to see her friends. It was homework time. Though she didn't understand why they still did homework. The world ended. Hannah was pretty sure a math equation was going to be useless if she went against a walker.

Hannah grabbed her workbook and started doing math. Carl gave her a look of boredom. She nodded and looked back down at her book. She finished another page. Hannah looked up to see Carl looking at a new book. It was an ASL book. She watched as he tried to sign things like colors or food. She laughed as Carl tried to sign pizza. The sign was a P going down in a tight Z. Carl was doing the Z so wide it could hit someone. He turned to her and gave her a questionable look.

"Too wide." She explained. "Watch me." She did the sign and Carl copied. "One of my teachers told me once that ASL is supposed to be natural. If it feels wrong it probably is." Carl cracked out a smile.

'Thank you.' Carl signed.

"You have to be careful with books. Sometimes the signs are wrong." Hannah explained. She noticed Carl was copying some of the ones she was signing as she spoke. She smiled, he was the first hearing kid she'd met that was willing to learn her language. "Let's start with something easy."

_'Hi my name is H-A-N-N-A-H. I'm twelve years old.'_ She signed, she noticed Carl's lost face.

"What did you say."

"Hi my name is Hannah. I'm twelve years old." She told him. "Sorry I was going too fast." She redid the sentence slower only this time she spelt out Carl's name and not hers. He did the sentence a couple of times, getting better and better each time. The only problem was his finger spelling. "Finger spelling has to be continuous. No bounce. Gives us a headache." Carl nodded and tried again. He was still bouncing trying to spell but it was less.

"Was that okay."

"Better." Hannah grinned and kept teaching him. It was bizarre to her that at the end of the world, she was finally finding her place.

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I find it kind of sad that Hannah doesn't know who Daryl is. Also, we are getting into the show's storyline and Rick will be making an appearance soon. I will update probably at some point tomorrow. Review/Favourite/Follow.**


	5. Chapter 5

_'Sign Language'_

_Thoughts_

Charlotte was watching her daughter carefully while she was with Carl. She was happy that Hannah was making friends but she was still cautious. She didn't want her baby to get hurt.

"You know spyin' is frowned upon." She jumped at the sound of Shane's voice.

"Jesus, you just scared the shit outta me." She turned to see Shane smirking. "'N I wasn't spyin'. Just carefully observin'."

"Right." Shane scoffed. "I for one think it's cute." Charlotte rolled her eyes.

"Anythin' I can do for you Shane?" She questioned.

"Just wonderin' if you knew where Lori is." Charlotte shrugged.

"I haven't gotta clue." She suggested.

"If you see her let her know I'm lookin' for her." Shane stated

"Will do." She mock saluted causing Shane to jokingly glare. She cracked a smile and headed to the fire.

She noticed Amy was pacing around nervously. Charlotte heard the girl muttering about everything that could go wrong on the run. She pitied her but her pacing was getting on her nerves. Charlotte was mending some shirts that got holes in them. She was no seamstress but they were running out of clothes.

"Amy, why don't you go get some firewood?" Charlotte suggested, anything to keep the girl busy. Hannah walked over to her and took a seat next to her.

_'Where's Carl?'_ She asked her daughter.

_'With Lori. Helping fold clothes.'_

_'Bet he likes that.'_ Charlotte put on the sarcastic face. Hannah laughed. She must've grabbed the sketchbook from the tent and a pencil. Hannah always loved to draw and she was very good at it, and Charlotte wasn't just saying that because she was her mother. On one of Glenn's first runs, she asked him if he could find one since Hannah had left hers at their home in Henessey. It sort of became her diary through everything. She got mad when Charlotte would look inside, saying it was an invasion of privacy. Though, at this moment, Charlotte was surprised that it wasn't a book that she had in hand. No matter where she went, a copy of one of the Harry Potter's was sitting somewhere. Since they left Atlanta, Glenn brought her back books on every run he went on. It must've been the sixth or seventh time she'd read it. Charlotte smiled hearing the pencil scratching on the paper and went back to sewing her blue plaid shirt.

She dropped it when she heard a crackling coming from the CB. It could be them.

"... Will be approaching Atlanta on Highway 85." The voice crackled but it sounded unfamiliar. Charlotte went up and grabbed the walkie. "Anybody reads, please respond."

"Hello?" Charlotte called to the unknown voice. "Hello?"

"Can anybody hear my voice? Anybody out there. Anybody ... respond. Hello, can you hear my voice?" The voice cut out at almost every other word. "Can you hear my voice?"

"Yes, I can hear you." Charlotte spoke. "You're coming through. Over." But the voice just kept relaying his earlier message. He was going into the city. He had no idea what he was getting himself into.

"We're just outside the city. Dammit!" She cursed before hitting the talk button on the CB again. "Hello? Don't go in the city. Hello?" She gave a look in desperation at Dale who was standing next to her. "He can't hear me. I couldn't warn him."

"Try to raise him again." Dale told her.

"If I knew how this damn thing worked I might." She hailed Shane over. "You know best how this thing works." Shane grabbed the COM from her hands.

Hannah must've noticed all the commotion and came over to her mother.

_'What's wrong?'_ She asked sensing the panic in her mother's gaze.

_'Someone over the radio calling for help. I couldn't stop him. He's going in the city.'_ Charlotte calmly explained.

_'City's full of walkers.'_ They had to create a new sign for the walkers since there was none. It was laying one palm flat face down while two fingers make a walking motion with the middle finger dragging behind. It imitated the way they walked.

_'I know.'_ Charlotte's face gave away what she was feeling. There had to be some way of stopping from going into the city.

_'There are others? Not just us?'_ Charlotte nodded. She turned back to the conversation that was happening.

"We've been sayin' that we should signs up on 85. Turn 'em away from the city." Charlotte spoke up.

"Folks got no idea what they're getting into." Lori agreed.

"We don't have enough time." Shane defended.

"We need to make time." Charlotte said

"That's a luxury we can't afford. We're survivin' here day to day." Shane explained.

"And who the hell would you propose to send?" Dale asked

"I'll go." Lori stated. "Give me a vehicle."

"I'll go as well." Charlotte stood up. Hannah was across from her reading lips. The minute her mother spoke up she could almost see the color drain from her daughter's face.

"No." Shane said firmly. "God forbid somethin' happens out there 'n you both get stuck."

"Yes, sir." Lori sounded pissed off and stomped away. Shane followed her, Carl almost did but he told the kid to stay back.

Charlotte turned and saw Hannah shaking her head at her mom. The look on her face was of disbelief. Her nostrils flared and she stormed away.

"Hannah!" She called out and ran after her daughter. Of course Hannah didn't turn around. Charlotte grabbed her daughter by the arm and spun her around. Hannah kept her head turned away. Charlotte switched sides so her daughter would be facing her.

_'What's wrong?'_ She asked.

_'You were going to leave!'_ The fury on her face made it evident what she was mad about.

_'I'm sorry.'_ Charlotte's eyes filled with tears. Her daughter had never been so angry at her before. _'I had to do what's right.'_

_'What about me?'_ She signed angrily. _'What if you go and get bit? What happens then? You can't just leave me. I don't want to lose you like Carl lost his dad.'_

_'I'm not going anywhere. I promise. Sorry I worried you.'_ She pulled her daughter in her arms and hugged her tight. She broke it and Hannah stared in her eyes.

"It's okay." Charlotte smiled at the sound of her daughter's voice. Hannah rarely spoke to her.

"I love you." She told her signing at the same time.

'_Me too.'_ Hannah said. _'__I'm going to go find Carl and Sophia.'_ Charlotte nodded.

_'Don't forget you have to wash dishes.'_ Charlotte reminded her of her chores. Hannah grimaced before going off to find her friends.

Charlotte absent minded kept working. She got up at some point to collect fire wood all the while keeping the man's voice in her mind. Could they have made it to the city by now? Was whoever on the radio dead? What about the ones that went into town? Were they alive? It seemed as though they'd been gone for way too long. Glenn told her they'd be back in a few hours. The quarry wasn't that far a drive from the city. Raiding the store shouldn't be taking this long. Something must've gone wrong. The worry seized her. The perks of being a mother, she worried about everything. _It's why you get grey hair._ She could hear her mother's voice chastising her. Unconsciously, she checked for grey hairs. Luckily there were none. Just a lot of split ends.

Charlotte was twenty-three when Hannah was born. She and Daryl dated for three months when she was working at the small hospital, originally she was in school to become a doctor but dropped out after Hannah was born, in his hometown, it neighboured where she was living at the time. She was just about to start second year of medical school. She never met Merle, Daryl didn't bring her anywhere near his family. He was rugged, dangerous and handsome. It started as simply a physical relationship but escalated into a romantic one. She fell in love with him. Charlotte found out she was pregnant just before the end of their relationship. She planned on telling Daryl that night, that awful night. They were at the park, a frequent spot they went to. He was distant. She tried to get him to talk but it seemed like he was avoiding even looking at her. Now she knew why, he was ending it. She remembered asking what was wrong. He flipped out at her. Pulled away from her. He broke her heart. She couldn't stay in that town after that. It was small enough that she found herself running into him on occasion. She couldn't take it anymore, she quit her job and worked at a vets office in Athens. She hadn't seen him since.

* * *

Hannah was breathless. She, Carl, Sophia, Luis and Eliza were playing tag. It was Sophia that was it. She checked over her shoulders practically every other second just in case they decided to pop out of nowhere and touch her. She was running behind the RV when she noticed Carl cut off her path. He grinned mischievously. Sophia must've caught him. She turned to run the other way only to be cut off by Sophia. Hannah was cornered. There was nowhere to go. Her best bet would be to go wide on Carl. He was shorter than Sophia, didn't have as long a reach. Hannah put her plan into action. She sprinted and ducked around Carl's reaching hand. She ran still checking over her shoulder. Sophia was still chasing her but she couldn't find Carl anymore. That is until she crashed into a body and both went crashing to the ground. She looked up wide eyed to see Carl's smiling face.

"You okay?" She asked.

"Yeah but you're it." She could practically read the cockiness on his lips. Hannah grimaced as he got up. He put out his hand to help her up. She smiled gratefully and they took off running to catch the last two.

After their round of tag, Eliza and Luis's mother came to get them saying it was time for them to do their chores. She didn't have to be hearing to know they were complaining. Sophia, Carl and Hannah were just about to start playing a game when Lori came over. From what she could read, Lori was getting Carl to come for his chores. She giggled at the grimace on his face. Soon it was just Sophia and Hannah left.

"Want to play checkers?" Hannah asked.

"Okay." Sophia agreed. Hannah grabbed the board game and set it up at their table. Sophia always liked to be red when they played.

They played two games before Carol came to take Sophia for her chores. _And then there was one._ Hannah thought bitterly before heading back to the central camp. She went to the tub and grabbed one of the rags. The water was lukewarm when she dunked her hand in the soapy water. Washing dishes for the whole camp was not fun. Every time she had to do it, it took her longer than she'd like. She scrubbed all the bowls from breakfast. Since it had been a while, whatever was left of the food was stuck on the side. She kept to her work, not even paying attention to what was going on around her. She didn't know about the argument that had just broken out between Shane and Amy.

The minute Hannah finished her dishes she went to find her mother. She found her sitting next to a crying Amy. Lori and her mom were comforting the girl. Her mother's eyes drifted up to Hannah. She tilted her head in curiosity.

_'Your hair is a mess.'_ Her mother commented. The braid made the previous day was only being kept together by the elastic in her hair. She must've said it out loud because Amy looked up and cracked a small smile.

"Want me to do your hair." Amy requested.

"Okay." She took a seat in front of the other blond. Her mom crouched in front of her, probably to serve was an interpreter incase Amy started talking. Lori walked away. She vaguely remembered Carl complaining about his mother giving him a haircut today. She'd noticed how long it got since their first meeting almost a month ago. In all honesty, she preferred his hair a bit longer. It made him look older.

Hannah's face contorted in pain as Amy's fingers pulled her hair. She needed to run a brush through it more. She could always chop it off but Hannah loved her long hair. It sort of reminded her of Hermione's hair in the books. She was aware that she had an obsession with the Harry Potter books but it didn't matter. For a little girl that didn't have much and no friends it was nice to read fantastic adventures of kids her age. The stories transported her. For a short while she forgot about all the things that were wrong in the world. Instead she was off running around Hogwarts with the Golden Trio or she was fighting against Titans with Percy. No matter what she read, it felt like an escape. Especially in this world, it was hard to find a place to run away.

While sat there like a Barbie doll, her mother told her what happened. That the group that went to Atlanta was stuck and they probably wouldn't be back. Hannah bit back tears at the thought of never seeing Andrea, Glenn or T-Dog again. The world was running short on good people. No wonder Amy was crying. Her family was gone. Hannah pushed those thoughts out of her mind and focused on Amy's fingers, which pulled a lot less than her mother's. She was also much better at it, instead of just a regular braid it went across her head sideways and draped over her shoulder. She felt some loose strands up front framing her face. From what she could see of it, it was beautiful. Hannah plastered a big smile on her face. She turned around and hugged Amy.

"Thank you." She said, Amy smiled.

"No problem." She read on Amy's lips. "I always wanted a little sister." Hannah smiled wildly at that comment. Their conversation was cut off by something. She saw Amy's head snap up and she took off running to the RV. She felt her mother grab her shoulder and pull her to the RV as well.

_'What's happening?'_ She asked.

_'Car alarm.'_

_'Could it be them?'_ She wondered about the missing group.

_'I don't know.'_ Her mother told her. Hannah watched as a red sports car came barreling up back at the path. She watched as Glenn stepped out. She sensed the tension in camp. Shane was waving his arms angrily. Amy was up against Glenn, probably pressing him for information on Andrea. Hannah was just happy to see her friend alive. Where was everyone else?

She didn't have long to question as a big truck pulled up. The back opened and Andrea came running out. Amy gripped her, Hannah could see the tears flowing from her eyes. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Luis and Eliza running to their father. Hannah turned to look at Carl. He looked sad, then again he always did when he thought no one was looking. Lori crouched in front of him trying to comfort him. Carl missed his dad. Hannah liked to picture her own dad as some kind of superhero, or maybe a secret agent of the CIA and he left because he didn't want to put Hannah or her mother in danger. She didn't want to think about how he just left. He abandoned them. She wanted to go over there but her mother's hand on her shoulder kept her still. It wasn't her place to go. She kept her eyes firmly planted on Carl. She watched as he turned and his eyes widened in shock. His sad face dissolved into one of pure joy. He said something, Hannah scrunched her eyebrows together because she saw his lips form the word 'Dad'. She looked up at her mom to see her blue eyes widen.

_'What's going on?'_ Her mom wasn't looking.

"Mom? What's going on?" At this her mom looked down. Hannah could see the tears brimming her eyes.

_'Carl's dad is alive.'_ She signed after a moment. Hannah turned to see an older man gripping onto her friend like he was the last life raft on the Titanic. She smiled widely at the sight. Lori, Carl and Carl's father reunited, maybe this world wasn't such a dark place after all. Maybe, just maybe, there were a few miracles left.

**Yay! So Rick is here, finally. I know these chapters are a bit slow but the story will pick up. These are just sort of setting everything up. Please Review!**


	6. Chapter 6

_'Sign Language'_

_Thoughts_

* * *

Charlotte was never one to believe in fate. She gave up on them a long time ago. Though now she was beginning to reconsider. It had been a crazy chance that Monroe happened to be in that hallway the same time she was getting the gurney. It was strange that Hannah and Charlotte made it through and out of Atlanta completely unscathed. That T-Dog and Glenn happened to come by the moment their ambulance died. And now with Rick Grimes showing up. Lori had told her what happened to her husband. That he was shot and in a coma. Now he was here, at camp. What were the odds of something like that would happen? It had to be something that brought him back. There had to be hope in this world. There just had to be.

That night after dinner everyone sat around various campfires. Charlotte and Hannah took their regular spot by T-Dog and Glenn. Hannah wore a thin pink sweater lent to her by Sophia. After they'd found the camp, Carol had let Hannah borrow a shirt and a sweater from Sophia until they could find their own clothes. After a week, Sophia said Hannah could keep the sweater since she already had two. Hannah wasn't one for pink but she didn't complain since nights were cold. The group listened intently on what happened down in the city. About how Rick got swarmed in a tank and Glenn got him out. About how he'd almost caused everyone else on the run to die. About how Merle was popping off rounds in the huge crowd of walkers, drawing more of them in. About how Rick handcuffed him to a hunk of metal and T-Dog dropped the key down a drain pipe. He'd been left behind. As much as Charlotte disliked Merle Dixon with a fiery passion, she still pitied him being left behind. No one deserved to die like that. In a way, Merle was family. Not that he knew. He was blood. There was the old saying the blood runs thicker than water. Even if that blood happened to belong to a douche bag like Merle Dixon.

She kept listening as Rick explained him waking up in the hospital. Charlotte felt a shiver pass through her when he mentioned being trapped in a dream. She couldn't imagine what it must've felt like. She was lucky that she'd found Monroe. Without him, Charlotte doubted she and Hannah would be sitting by this fire. She found herself looking down at Hannah who kept staring into the flaming embers as though they held the answers to the world's unanswered questions. She looked up to see Shane going over and talking to Ed, whom had just thrown another log on his fire, which went against the rules. Fires were supposed to just be embers so nothing could see them from a distance. Why couldn't Ed just get his head out of his ass? He sat there with that stupid look on his face as he smoked a cigarette. She hated men like Ed Pelletier. She saw no place for them in the world. Men who had nothing better to do than to make everyone around them feel like their lower beings.

Her thoughts drifted back towards Merle Dixon. She could picture him on top of the roof, walkers feasting on him and there was nothing he could do about it. Then she remembered Daryl. She might've been angry with him but no one deserved to have their family taken away. Even if they were as big of assholes as Merle.

"Has anyone given any thought to what we're gonna tell Daryl?" Charlotte spoke up for the first time. "He won't be happy to hear Merle got left behind." She cared for Daryl, against her better judgement. She knew what he would feel. She'd went through it once before. _Stop it Charlotte. She's gone._ She had to keep reminding herself of that.

"I'll tell him." T-Dog stated. "I dropped the key. It's on me."

"I cuffed him. That makes it mine." Rick countered. Still the same old Rick, trying to save the day.

"Guys," Glenn spoke up. "It's not a competition. I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy." He was right, Daryl didn't seem to be entirely like his brother but there were still some similarities. He might not be an outright racist, but there were still some tendencies. Sometimes Daryl made comments, probably not meant to be harmful, but racy nonetheless.

"I did what I did. Hell if I'm gonna hide behind him." T-Dog spoke up. Charlotte always admired T, he was a strong person that stood by his beliefs. He believed it was his fault and therefore needed to rectify it. He was a good man. The only downside to this was that his high morals might one day get him killed. That day could be sooner than expected. Family could make people do strange things. In this world, family is the strongest bond anyone could have. The only bond that matters.

Charlotte was too caught up in her thoughts and missed the last half of the conversation. The last thing she heard was T-Dog saying that he padlocked the door. Merle was still trapped and he was alive. Charlotte could tell from Rick's expression that the news haunted him. He'd left a man to die, trapped with no food or water, like an animal. The night ended after that. Charlotte brought Hannah to their tent and fell asleep almost immediately still thinking about Daryl Dixon.

_It had been a week since she'd met Daryl on the curb. She didn't see him again until she walked into a bar to grab a drink with a few friends from work. She was sort of disappointed that she didn't get the chance to talk to him again. According to some of the nurses, who also found him attractive, he was in because of his brother. Once the family was released, he had no reason to come by. _

_The bar her friends chose was a total dive. There was a thick coat of smoke that made her cough when she first walked in. The area itself was full of rough looking rednecks. She could see a few guns holstered or tucked into the front of their pants. There were a few men playing pool. Charlotte swore that she and her friend Heather were two of the few women in the bar. She could feel the men ogling her from across the room. They were a group of four. Two men and two women. _

_"Are you sure this is the only bar in town?" Charlotte questioned. There had to be nicer places. _

_"Yep. Next one is the town over." One of the doctors, Jeremy, said. He was only a few years older than her and in his first year as a resident. _

_"This place is a hole in the wall." She whispered, hoping the rest of the bar didn't hear her. _

_"It ain't so bad." Wesley, another student working in the administration this summer, told her. "C'mon, let's grab a table." He led them over to a booth in the back. All the while they were being stared at by the bar-goers. It was obvious they didn't fit in here. _

_Charlotte felt uncomfortable going up to the bar but the other three had already gotten their drinks. Heather was flirting hard with Jeremy. Wesley had been trying to get her attention since the job began. She brushed off his advances. He was too studious, too clean-cut. He was just too much like her. _

_"What can I get ya, sugar?" The bartender asked, he looked to be in his forties with short gray hair. He had a long scar running from his temple to the right corner of his lip. _

_"Um, jus' a beer." She timidly told him. She took the drink and told him to put it on her tab. "Thanks." _

_It was when she was walking back to their booth when it happened. She was passing the pool table when a bald, leather clad biker cut off her path. _

_"Whoa, whoa, where ya goin'?" His deep voice caught her off guard. She felt uncomfortable as the man looked her up and down, taking in her every curve. Charlotte was really regretting wearing a dress. _

_"Jus' headin' back to my table." She tried to push past him when she felt a hand cup her behind. "You'd best remove that hand or I'll do it for ya." _

_"We got ourselves one with bite." The bald one laughed. Charlotte looked over to see her friends in deep conversation, they didn't even notice what was happening. Some friends they were. The men playing pool started to crowd her and started wolf whistling. She felt one hand go to the hem of her dress, lifting it. She jumped, spilling her drink to keep the dress from lifting further. _

_"Leave me alone." She warned them._

_"What're ya gonna do if I don't?" He demanded. She was just about to lash out when someone new spoke._

_"We got a problem here, James?" The voice sounded familiar._

_"This ain't nun' your concern, Dixon." The bald man, or rather James, retorted. Charlotte turned around to see him._

_"Daryl?" She said in disbelief. _

_"You best step 'way from her." Daryl growled, James raised his hand in surrender._

_"Hey, man, don't want no trouble. Didn't realize she was your girl." She wanted to correct him but one look from Daryl shut her right up. "Ya won' mention this to Merle will ya?" _

_"If ya don' leave right now, you best believe I will." Daryl threatened. The men playing pool left the bar, tails in between their legs. Who was this guy? _

_"Thank you." She smiled gratefully. _

_"Don' mention it." Daryl brushed it off. _

_"Let me buy you a drink." She offered. "I won't take no for an answer." _

_"What about your friends?" He gestured to the table where Heather was now making out with Jeremy and stroking Wesley's neck._

_"They seem to be gettin' 'long jus' fine without me." She laughed and grabbed his hand to pull him to the bar. _

* * *

Hannah was always an early riser. She liked to sleep but not very late. It seemed like a waste of time in her opinion. Besides, after sleeping through the end of the world, which is something Carl never stopped teasing her about, she figured that she'd gotten enough. The sun was just rising when she got up. No one was awake yet, save Dale who was keeping watch on the top of the RV. She waved at the old man who acknowledged her presence. Since no one was awake yet, there was no breakfast. Hannah climbed the ladder to go see Dale. She liked Dale, he was a sweet man. He reminded her of her Grandpa. Or at least of the image she always created of him. Hannah didn't know her grandfather. He died when her mother was in her third year of college. Mom always told her the greatest stories about her grandfather. She'd painted this picture of him and Dale seemed to fit every aspect of him. Dale, with his full white beard, his goofy white fisherman's hat, and his Hawaiian print shirts, he was a sweet man. Definitely what she would've wanted in a grandpa.

"Good morning." She greeted.

"Morning." She always thought it strange when people always just said morning. Maybe it was a hearing people thing that she just wouldn't understand. She could if she'd wear her CI. There were times when she wanted to but the thought of the first sound she'd hear would be that of a walker scared her out of it.

"Anything interesting?" She asked.

"A few birds but nothing else." Dale explained. Hannah nodded and took a seat on the roof.

The sky was painted a bright red. There were specks of pink that light but it was red. Hannah thought about that old saying _Red sky in morning sailors take warning. Red sky at night sailors delight._ It was an old way sailors used to predict the weather. If the sky was red in the morning than it would rain. The air didn't feel all that humid and there weren't any clouds in the sky but the color gave Hannah an uneasy feeling. Red was the same color as blood. She'd seen quite a bit of it in her life. Maybe the saying had nothing to do with weather, maybe it was a warning that something bad was going to happen.

Hannah shook away the dark thoughts as the sun got higher. She looked down off the top of the RV to see the camp starting to come alive. She looked down at the water to see Carol washing some clothes. The smell of food hit her nostrils. She said bye to Dale before climbing down the ladder and heading over to grab yet another bowl of oatmeal. There was significantly less this time. They must be running low. Hannah tried not to worry about these things, since she was just a kid, but it was a trait she'd inherited from her mother. It was in her nature to worry about everything. Hannah swallowed every last bit of the paste. She didn't really know how much food they had or if they were going to get more soon or how long the food they had would last. _Oh god, I'm turning into my mother._ She thought to herself. Hannah turned when she felt someone tapping on her shoulder. Carl was standing there with a big toothy grin on his face. It was the first time she'd really seen him smile. It made her happy to see her friend so over the moon with joy.

"Want to come play." She read the request on Carl's lips.

Hannah put the bowl down and nodded enthusiastically. She got up and followed Carl straight down the path to the woods. They did this all the time. They never strayed far from camp. As long as they were in shouting distance, their parents didn't mind. Luis, Eliza and Sophia were already on the path waiting for them. The cans hung from tree to tree, it was used as a walker alert. As long as the stayed around the cans, they were safe.

"What are we going to play?" She asked when they got there.

"Tag." Sophia said. "Luis is it." She spelt out his name for Hannah. Sophia's finger spelling was a lot better than Carl's, not that she'd tell him that. They were competitive with each other over who

"O.K." Hannah agreed. She smiled before taking off running away from them.

She felt free running. She checked over her shoulder every once in a while. She could see Luis chasing Sophia and Eliza. She slowed down for a second just as the three started coming towards her. Hannah snapped back into action and started sprinting away. She ran until she came up to a clearing. She threw a look over her shoulder for a second. When she turned back, Hannah halted in her steps and fell down in shock. Crouched no more than five feet away from her was a walker. Hannah had never seen one up close before. It's skin was a decaying grey. It's hair was a thinning brown. Though she couldn't see its face, she guessed his faced matched the amount of decay on its back, she guessed his face looked about the same. She was frozen in place. Her heart pounded in her chest and her palms began to sweat. She wasn't just scared. Hannah was terrified, so much so that she felt crippled. She wanted to do was scream but she didn't know how. She kept perfectly still, just watching the walker feast on the corpse of the deer. She should run. She knew should run all the way back to camp. Run back to her mother, who will probably never let her out of her sight again, but she didn't, she couldn't. Maybe if she could prove to her mother that she was strong enough on her own, she wouldn't keep such a tight grip. Hannah knew that was stupid. Her mom just wanted what was best for her. Besides, her standing here, wouldn't prove anything, and she knew that. Hannah just wished it would.

She stayed still until a hand pulled her back. Hannah turned to see none other than her mother standing there. Her eyes frantically checking her over.

_'Nothing bite you? Nothing scratched you?'_ Her mother's face gave away her worry right away. Hannah knew that her mom liked to put a mask on but not this time. Her concern was plain as day.

_'I'm O.K.'_ Hannah reassured. 'It was feeding.' But even as she said the words, Hannah knew she wasn't fine. Her hands were shaking and she felt the color drain from her face. Her mom pulled her tightly in her arms, relieved that she was okay. Hannah held onto her mother as though she were it was the last thing she'd ever do. The grasp was broken apart so she could see her mom.

_'Let's go to the RV.'_ She held her hand and led her back to camp. Hannah all the while felt her heart still racing.

* * *

Charlotte had never been so scared in her whole life. The minute she heard the kids scream, she was in the woods faster than a speeding bullet. The kids all came running towards their parents. Charlotte's heart lurched when she didn't see Hannah among them. Carl pointed down the path, his hands shaking and his lip quivering. Charlotte went down the path, all her fears rising to the surface. She saw Hannah standing there, watching the walker. Charlotte pulled her daughter away from the scene, frantically checking her over for bites or scratches. Hannah reassured her that she was fine. Charlotte pulled her to the RV as the men arrived with baseball bats, axes to kill the thing.

The further they got away from the scene, the more Charlotte's worry turned into anger. She was angry that Hannah for not running away. Her daughter was just observing. What if that thing decided it was going to turn away from its deer and come after the unsuspecting girl? Hannah was reckless. She always had been. She used to get in fights all the time at school. Hannah was a shoot first ask later type of person. She'd inherited that trait from her father. Charlotte on the other hand liked to think things through. With the CI for instance, she made sure that all her debts were paid off before getting it. It made no sense to drown herself in more debt than she already was in. She always had to have a plan. Unlike Hannah who tended to go with the flow of things. Once in the RV, Charlotte dragged her daughter to the back room.

She sat Hannah on the bed and stared at her directly in the eye. Hannah froze at the look of fury in her mother's eyes.

_'What were you thinking? How could you be so stupid? You could be dead right now.'_ Charlotte scolded.

_'I'm not. I'm O.K.'_ Her response only made Charlotte angrier.

_'Do you even think about anyone but you? What if something happened and I can't get there in time?'_ She questioned, Hannah looked down at the ground.

_'So you're just going to keep me on a tighter leash, like a dog?'_ Hannah asked after lifting her gaze to her mom.

_'What do you mean?'_ Charlotte was confused as hell over the question.

_'You are smothering me. I can't do anything without you.'_ Her words cut through Charlotte like a sharp knife.

_'I am keeping you safe. All I want is what's best for you.' _She defended her actions.

_'Like with the CI?'_ Charlotte's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

_'I thought you wanted it.'_

_'You never asked me. You just booked the doctor and we got it.'_ Charlotte bit her lip thinking back. Hannah was right, she never did ask for her daughter's input. She just assumed that she wanted it. After all the days she came home crying from school because she was being bullied. Charlotte never once asked.

_'Did you not want it?'_ She dreaded the answer.

_'I don't know. I like being deaf. It's who I am. I don't have to be like every one else.'_ Hannah explained.

_'Hannah, you are more than just deaf. The CI does not change who you are.'_ Charlotte knew all of her daughter's nervous ticks. Right now Hannah was picking her nail while looking towards the ground. Charlotte lifted her daughter's head up and half-smiled.

_'Do I have to wear it?'_ She asked

_'Eventually yes. But now? No. Whenever you want to you'll wear it. For now, you don't leave the camp without an adult.'_ Charlotte was giving her daughter an ultimatum. Maybe not directly but it was there. Until Hannah decided to wear her cochlear, she would not leave Charlotte's sight.

_'O.K.'_ Hannah begrudgingly agreed.

'And_ if you ever see a walker, you run as fast as you can, don't hesitate. Understand?'_

_'Yes.'_

_'Good, go see the other kids. They are at the table.'_ Charlotte suggested. She remembered Merle and how he was still in Atlanta. The arrows in that deer and the argument that had just broken out outside screamed that he was back. She needed to talk to him either way. She'd just told Hannah to grow when Charlotte was still being a child. She needed to swallow her pride and talk to Daryl. If she was being honest, she preferred being walker chow. She ruffled Hannah's hair before stepping out of the RV.

**So what do you think? Do you guys want more Daryl point of view? I know I haven't had much of him yet but this part is all about establishing Hannah and Charlotte in the plot. Also, it's more of a family centric story, though I do like writing the flashbacks. I promise a Charlotte/Daryl part in the next chapter and you'll see some background Daddy!Daryl coming up. I figure that he would be more of staying on the outside in a situation like this. Anyway, please review! **


	7. Chapter 7

_'Sign Language'_

When Charlotte stepped outside, it was chaos. Shane had Daryl in a chokehold. Rick was crouched in front of him. Charlotte guessed he didn't take it well. She didn't quite catch what Rick had said but it seemed to calm her ex right down. Daryl nodded and Shane let him go. Charlotte caught his gaze while she stayed in the threshold of the RV, blocking the view of the curious children inside.

"What I did," Rick began. "was not on a whim. Your brother does not work of play well with others." Daryl scoffed, he knew that his brother was an ass but he was still blood.

"It's not Rick's fault." T-Dog stepped up now. "I had the key and I dropped it." Daryl gave him a look of disbelief.

"You couldn't pick it up?" He asked

"I dropped it down a drain." At this T-Dog looked down in shame. He was scared so he ran away and left Merle to rot. Charlotte couldn't say she wouldn't do the same if it meant getting back to Hannah alive.

"If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't." Daryl sounded defeated. Charlotte knew he was trying to hold back tears. When they were dating, she'd never seen Daryl cry, but she sometimes heard his voice tremble this way. Not often, but sometimes.

"Well, maybe this will." T-Dog began. "Look, I chained the door to the roof ... so the geeks couldn't get at him ... with a padlock. It's gotta count for something."

"Hell with all y'all! Just tell me where he is so I can go get him." He demanded in the still trembling voice.

"He'll show you." Lori told him, referring to Rick who's eyes were determined. "Ain't that right?"

"I'm going back." Rick stated. Charlotte hadn't even known Rick for more than twelve hours, but from what she'd seen, he was a good and honest man. Like T-Dog he was controlled by his high morals. Charlotte admired him for it. She stepped out of the thresh hold just as Lori squeezed in. She was going to tell Carl that his dad, the one who just came back, was leaving once more.

Charlotte walked over to Daryl, who was prepping his crossbow, the one he attempted to teach her to shoot with, for the journey. She took a deep breath before speaking, gathering every inch of courage she had. She could always wait until he got back to talk to him. That is if he got back. He could very well die in Atlanta without Charlotte telling him the truth. Though she guessed he'd figured it out by now. She'd seen the looks Daryl would give Hannah. She just wondered how.

"You gonna say somethin' or are you jus' gonna stand there?" He must've heard her coming. Damn hunter ears.

"I-I'm sorry 'bout Merle." Charlotte expressed

"Don't need that. I'm gonna go get 'im." Daryl hoisted his crossbow over his shoulder and started walking away.

"You comin' back after?" She couldn't help but ask. Daryl halted in his steps and turned towards her. "After you find Merle ... Are you comin' back?"

"Why d'ya care?" Daryl asked

"You know it ain't for me." Charlotte said softly, of course thinking about her daughter. Even though Hannah didn't know the truth, she still deserved to have her father there.

"She don't even know who I am." Daryl snapped.

"I know." Charlotte frowned at this. "Don't ya wanna get to know your kid?"

"So, she is mine." Daryl stated. Charlotte nodded looking down at her feet.

"When d'you figure it out?" She asked him

"Day I got here. Old man told me how old she was. Wa'n't hard puttin' two 'n two together." Daryl explained. "Why didn't ya tell me?" She considered telling him the truth. That she'd wanted to call him, write to him but she was a coward. How she'd sobbed, not knowing what to do. How she thought about ending the pregnancy but she just couldn't. She gave up on her dreams because of him. No, she wouldn't tell him any of that.

"I had my reasons." Charlotte flatly told him. "Jus' consider comin' back. She's your daughter. She's your blood." Daryl looked away from her. "But you're right. She don't even know who you are." Her voice dripped with attitude.

She was torn between feeling angry or annoyed with Daryl. He was such a stubborn ass. Though them talking, it sort of reminded her of when they were together. They fought practically all the time. However, they made up every time. It was what kept there relationship interesting. The more they fought, the faster they'd make up. Times have changed. They weren't kids anymore. This time, they wouldn't make up after this. There would be no 'make-up sex'. They weren't together. She would never let herself go through that again. She'd loved him once, and maybe a part of her still did but she couldn't bring herself to go down that road again. She'd tried dating but they rarely made it past the month and a half mark. The closest she ever got to falling in love again was with a man named Derek. He was a kind, sweet man who loved both Hannah and Charlotte. They dated for two months, it was her longest relationship since Daryl. He's was a big outdoorsman. He took the two camping sometimes. Charlotte thought that maybe they could be happy together. Until she went in the attic one day and found pictures of her and Daryl. In that moment she realized that the only reason she was falling for Derek was because he reminded her of her ex. It caused her to break it off with him. She felt like she was falling in love with Daryl all over again, only this time she would end it before she got hurt.

Charlotte didn't realize how far she'd gotten. She was walking sort of in a daze, lost in her own thoughts. When she came to, she was on the path in the woods right next to the cans. She shook away her thoughts and headed back to camp. They were gearing up to leave when she got back. She found Hannah sitting next to Carl, who looked upset at the aspect of his dad leaving. Charlotte couldn't blame him. Rick just got there and now he was leaving. The kids sat next to Lori on the top of Daryl's truck.

_'Where were you?'_ Hannah asked when she saw her mother.

_'Had to think.'_ Charlotte explained

_'You O.K?'_ Her daughter asked. Charlotte nodded and put on a smile. She playfully ruffled the strands that had come loose from the braid Amy made. Maybe she could get the young girl to do it again. Charlotte was no good when it came to styling hair. She mostly kept hers in a tight pony tail, with the occasional side braid or bun. Her long curly blond hair tended to get in the way more often than not. She felt eyes on them. She looked at the cube van to see Daryl staring at them. Charlotte's smile slipped from her face. They held the gaze for a moment longer until he broke it. She heard the horn blare as Rick and T-Dog walked over to it. T was going? She saw the familiar red baseball cap that belonged to Glenn. Both were going with Rick and Daryl? How much had she missed? Apparently a lot. She waved goodbye to the cube van as it pulled away. Carl got up and went to his tent. The boy looked exhausted. Hannah was about to follow him but Charlotte stopped her. Carl needed a moment to himself.

Charlotte couldn't believe all that's happened in such a short period of time. It wasn't even halfway through the day and shit has already hit the fan. A walker was in camp, they were going after Merle, and Charlotte had finally gotten the courage to speak to Daryl. How could so much drama happen in the span of a few hours? It was exhausting. Charlotte hoped that all the excitement of the day was done. They could use some normalcy. Charlotte looked around to see Hannah sitting by the fire pit, her nose buried in her book.

She had no clue what to do. Charlotte felt lost when it came to her daughter. She always thought she was making the right calls, keeping Daryl away, getting her the CI. She was so wrapped up in making choices that may not have been hers to make. When Hannah asked about her father, Charlotte would brush it off. Maybe she should've told her about him. Maybe she should've told Daryl. _No, you did what was best for Hannah_, she could hear her mother's voice chastising her. Charlotte almost laughed, even in death her mom was still giving her advice. She'd always been there when Charlotte needed support. Especially when Hannah was a baby. Her death devastated Charlotte. She was sick for months until one day, she gave up. She went peacefully. She left the house and most of the money to Charlotte and Hannah, the rest went to her sister. She was trying to sell their house, maybe get a fresh start somewhere new. She did manage to sell her mom's car and received all the money. It was the only way they'd been able to keep a float for that long. Charlotte fingered the circular locket around her neck. It had become part of her. She hadn't taken it off since her mom died. Growing up, Charlotte always admired it. The last time they'd visited her, the day she died, her mother slipped the necklace in her hand. Charlotte knew that that was it. In that single moment, she knew her mom wouldn't be there the next day.

Charlotte wiped away the single tear that formed at the thought of her mother when she saw Amy and Carol heading down to the car with bags of clothes in hand. In all the excitement, she forgot about laundry day. She looked up at Dale, who of course was standing on the roof of the RV.

"Hey, Dale, would mind watchin' Hannah while I do laundry?" She asked.

"Yeah no problem." The old man told her.

"Thank you. I owe you one." She walked over to her daughter who was still reading. This time she was reading one of the Percy Jackson series, Glenn found those last week for her. She'd read them all before but she loved them either way. Glenn had sort of become Hannah's adopted big brother. When she wasn't reading, drawing or with Carl and Sophia, she was following the young man around. He didn't seem to mind though. Charlotte gently tapped her daughter on the shoulder.

_'I'm going to wash clothes. Stay where Dale can see you. O.K?'_ Charlotte instructed, Hannah nodded and went back to her book. Charlotte grabbed their dirty clothes and headed to meet the women at Carol's Cherokee. Ed drove them, not a surprise since he rarely left his wife alone. She didn't pretend not to notice the bruises on Carol's arm but what could she do? It wasn't as if she could call the police, even if there were two cops in the group, and have him put in jail. It killed her that she couldn't do anything.

They were sitting on the edge of the quarry scrubbing the camps clothes. A little ways away, Charlotte watched as Shane and Carl went frog catching. Shane was in the water flailing around trying to 'round up the frogs'. This was what the men did with their time?

"Can someone explain how the women got stuck with all the Hattie McDaniel work?" Jacqui asked as she and Andrea came and took their spots by the water.

"The world ended. Didn't you get the memo?" Amy asked sarcastically. Charlotte chuckled lightly at the comment.

"It's just the way it is." Carol replied after looking back at her husband, who was eyeing the woman and smoking a cigarette. That's all he ever did, stand and smoke.

Charlotte's hands were starting to get pruned because of the soapy water. She'd finished hers and was now working on Hannah's clothes.

"I do miss my Maytag." Carol complained.

"I miss my Benz, my sat nav." Andrea contributed, Charlotte guessed they would be reminiscing over what they missed about life before.

"I miss my coffeemaker with dual-whip and built-in grinder, honey." Jacqui added

"My computer ... And texting." Sometimes Charlotte forgot how young Amy was.

"What about you Charlotte? What do you miss?" Andrea asked

"My DVD player." Charlotte remembered how she and Hannah used to cuddle on the couch on a Saturday afternoon when she had the day off and watch movies. It was probably her favourite thing in the world.

"You know what I miss?" Andrea asked. "I miss my vibrator." Charlotte choked back a laugh.

"Oh!" Jacqui laughed

"Oh my god!" Amy snorted.

Carol looked back at her husband cautiously before softly whispering: "Me too." Charlotte lost it at this point. She started laughing hysterically because it was so unexpected. Carol didn't seem like the kind of woman who would own one. Mostly because she thought that Ed wouldn't let her have one. Maybe she kept it hidden. Speak of the devil, Ed took notice that the women were having fun. God forbid they actually had some enjoyment.

"What's so funny?" Ed asked

"Just swapping war stories." Andrea joked. Ed came up to them. Charlotte could smell his cigarette burning. She was always surrounded by smoke at work but she never touched them. Her mother would've probably killed her if she started smoking. Her Papaw died of lung cancer when she was little. Back in medical school, she'd seen pictures of lungs being blackened out back the nicotine. Her sister, on the other hand, did take up the habit. Her mom flipped when she found the pack in her clothes.

"Is there a problem?" Charlotte snapped at Ed.

"Nothing that concerns you." Ed grunted. He turned to his wife. "And you ought to focus on your work. This ain't no comedy club." Charlotte rolled her eyes at the sexist comment.

She expected Ed to leave right away but he stood there watching them like a hawk. The women fell in silence. No laughter this time. Ed definitely knew how to suck the fun out of everything. It was getting on Charlotte's last nerve. She stood up to face the man.

"You know what Ed ... Why don't you do your own damn laundry for a change?" She tossed him a shirt. Ed threw it right back in her face.

"Ain't mah job, missy."

"What is your job, Ed?" Andrea came to her defense. "Sitting on your ass smoking cigarettes?"

"Well, it sure ain't listening to two uppity smart-mouthed bitches. Tell you what." He turned to Carol. "Come on ... let's go." He firmly told Carol.

"I don't think she needs to go anywhere with you." Andrea tried to put herself in between the two.

"'N said it was nun' your business." Ed got right in her face. "Come on now. You heard me."

"Carol, you don't have to go." Charlotte told the woman. Carol shrunk away from her and slowly went towards her husband.

"Charlotte, please. It doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters." She spoke sincerely.

"Hey," Ed directed himself to Charlotte. "don't think I won't knock you on your ass jus' 'cause you're some college educated cooze, all right? Now you come on now, or your gonna regret it later." He threatened Carol. It took all of her restraint not to walk up and slap him right across the face.

"So she can show up with more bruises later? We've seen them you disgustin' son of bitch!" Charlotte spat out.

"Stay outta this. Now come on!" He urged Carol. "You know what? This ain't nun' y'all's business. You don't wanna keep proddin' the bull here, okay? Now I'm done talkin'. Come on." He reached for Carol.

"Carol, you don't ..." Charlotte began but was cut off by Ed.

"You don't tell me what! I tell you what!" He then slapped his wife right across the face. Charlotte saw the blood dribble down her lip. Carol fell back into Amy's arms. He continued to try to grab at his wife but Charlotte and Andrea put themselves in between to hold him off. Ed was too big and pushed through. He continued to make a grab for Carol, who was still weeping in Amy's arms.

"Stop!" Charlotte cried out when he managed to reach for Carol. "Get off her!"

Ed was still trying to get his wife when Shane stepped in. He threw Ed on the ground. The bastard demanded that Shane get off him. Carol kept weeping in Amy's arms. Charlotte watched as Shane raised his fist and slammed it into Ed's face. He did it over and over again until Ed's face was barely recognizable.

"Shane, stop!" Charlotte pleaded. She didn't want her friend to be a murderer. "Just stop!"

"Stop it!" Carol sobbed. Shane stopped beating him and grabbed Ed by the collar.

"You put your hands on your wife, your little girl or anybody else in this camp one more time, I will not stop next time. Do you hear me?" Shane threatened. Charlotte had never seen him like this. It was terrifying.

"Yes." Ed stated weakly.

"I'll beat you to death." Shane punched him one more time and then kicked him in the stomach. Carol broke from Amy's grip and went to her husband's side. She sobbed, apologizing continuously, stroking gingerly his hair. Charlotte couldn't believe what she had just seen. Ed was a dick and deserved what he got, but to see it in full view like that and from Shane ... it was horrible. She didn't know what to say, or what to do when Shane walked past them and headed back to camp. This was a side of Shane she'd never seen before and she prayed that she'd never see it again. This man walking away from them, he was not the Shane she knew and that terrified her.

**I hope you enjoyed it! I know there was only a little interaction between Charlotte and Daryl but it's better than nothing. Please Review! **


	8. Chapter 8

Sophia, Carl and Hannah were sitting at the table playing cards. She lost count of how many games of go fish they'd played. Today, Hannah said they should shake it up a bit and play Crazy Eights. She was trying to cheer Carl up a bit since Lori said he couldn't catch frogs with Shane anymore. Hannah didn't understand why, Carl used to always do things with Shane. What had changed since then?

Sophia left after a while, her mom came and got her since her dad got hurt. Carol reassured that it was nothing to worry about but that he wanted to see his daughter. Hannah didn't like Ed Pelletier all that much. Something about him gave her a sick feeling at the pit of her stomach. Mom said to stay away from him. Soon it was just Carl and Hannah.

"Want to play war?" She suggested. Carl nodded and she collected the cards and shuffled them. Hannah was a natural when it came to shuffling cards, which is funny because her mom was awful at it. When they used to play cards on her mom's breaks at the restaurant and they sat at her table, Hannah always teased her when a few would fly away.

They played maybe three rounds of war when Andrea and Amy walked up with a whole mess of fish. Hannah felt her stomach growl at the thought of fish. She'd seen them earlier taking a canoe out on the water. She smiled as Carl asked if he could learn to fish. Hannah knew how. Her mom dated a guy back when she was eight, he was a real outdoorsmen. His name was Derek or something. He took them fishing a few times. Hannah liked it, there was no distractions. No one talked to her. It was quiet. She liked Derek, he was nice. Her mom wasn't happy though. Hannah could tell. She was sad every time she looked at him. Hannah would ask her why but her mom never answered. She guessed it might have had something to do with her father. The only thing her mom ever said about her father was that she loved him. Hannah didn't even know his name. She always dreamed that one day she'd find him, he and her mom would get back together, and they could finally be a family. That was her dream before. Now, there was no hope in ever finding him. He was probably dead.

Hannah was pulled out of her thoughts by a tap on her shoulder. Carl was trying to get her attention. He pointed over in the distance where she could see the outline of Jim digging. It was one of the hottest days of the year. Hannah could feel the sweat dripping down her back. How could Jim not be collapsing right now? Lori and her mom came up behind the two kids and they followed Shane up the path to Jim.

From what she could see, the entire camp followed Shane up the path. Apparently, none of them had anything better to do. It was probably the lack of television. _Now you have to talk to people to get entertainment. How barbaric?_ Hannah thought to herself sarcastically, she realized she was becoming more sarcastic as time progressed. Mom interpreted the conversation between Jim and Shane. When they came up to him, Jim was sweating buckets. Hannah didn't think a someone could have so much water in them pour out and still be alive.

_'Is Jim going to die?'_ Hannah asked her mother. He looked dehydrated and exhausted. Her mom stared down at her.

_'No. He'll be fine.'_ Her mom reassured. Mom kept interpreting the conversation, Shane was asking him why he was digging. Jim said that he wasn't hurting anyone. No one except himself. That was when Lori stepped up. She was saying something along the lines of: he was scaring Carl, Sophia and Hannah. It wasn't that it was scaring her, she was just worried. Jim could collapse out here. She wasn't frightened by Jim's digging, even if he was digging some mighty sized holes. Walkers were what she was terrified of. Not Jim. She was worried about him, not scared. Before she knew it, Jim was swinging his shovel as if trying to hit Shane. That couldn't be right. Jim wouldn't just attack him. Shane grabbed the shovel and tackled Jim to the ground. Hannah saw the silvery glint of handcuffs going around Jim's wrist. Like he was being arrested. Jim's jaw was moving but she couldn't read his lips. Whatever he said troubled those around her. She saw Amy's hand cover her mouth, Carol pulled Sophia in closer and Hannah's mom tightened her grip on her shoulder. She looked over at Carl, who was in his mother's arms, he looked as white as a sheet. Hannah was confused, what had Jim said that was so bad? Maybe, by the faces of everyone at camp, it was better that she didn't know.

Jim was tied to a tree, Shane explained the it was so he couldn't hurt himself. He had something called 'sunstroke'. Mom explained that he was overheated and dehydrated, making him delirious. Now she, Carl, Sophia and their mom's were sitting around the table doing schoolwork. Hannah couldn't concentrate on math. All she kept thinking about what Jim had said. She kept wondering what it could be. She asked her mom but she wouldn't say what happened. Maybe, when they get a minute, she'll ask Carl. Shane and Dale came up to him and gave him some water. That's all he needs, water. He looked over at the table, Hannah could see how tired his eye were.

"Sorry if I scared your boy and the girls." She read Jim's lips. "You're not scare now, are you." Hannah shook her head to say she wasn't scared. She was never scared, just worried. Jim seemed glad to hear that they weren't scared of him. Hannah went back to her book. She managed to finish another few problems, math had always come naturally to her. Just like her mother. She was pulled out of her work by Carl.

_'S-H-A-N-E ... wants ... help ... with ... fish.'_ Carl signed, he must've been practicing. Hannah smiled at the thought of getting away from schoolwork. It was the end of the world, yet here they were sitting around doing homework. Hannah got up and chased after Sophia and Carl.

* * *

Never had Charlotte been so thankful that Hannah couldn't hear. Jim's story about his family made her sick to her stomach. She didn't know how he was still walking and surviving. If she lost her family, she'd probably die. Charlotte watched as Hannah went off after Carl and Sophia to clean fish. Carol, Lori and Shane followed them. Charlotte approached Jim, who was still tied to the tree. She reached to give him some water but he shook his head.

"You keep your little girl close." Jim advised. "Don't ever let her out of your sight." Charlotte nodded before she got up and followed her daughter's path.

Hannah was cleaning the fish, giggling along with Carl and Sophia. Shane was showing them how to do it. Carol sat next to her daughter. Charlotte walked over to Lori who was sitting by the fire, getting the pit ready for tonight. They were going to have a big fish fry, after all that's happened, they needed some sort of fun. A night of fun might be worth it. Charlotte, however, had never felt more distracted. She couldn't stop thinking about how they weren't back yet, or what Jim had told them, or Ed Pelletier's face being beaten in, or about what Daryl had said that morning. _She don't even know who I am._ The words kept floating through her mind. He was right, Hannah had no clue. She didn't know that she'd met her father and that he could be dead now. _No, he's alive, they all are._ Charlotte was beginning to doubt her choices. They had to be alive. Glenn and T-Dog were like family to her. Rick seemed like a good, honest man. It would probably kill Lori and Carl if he died again. And then there was Daryl, she hoped he would make the right choice and stay with the group.

"Hey." Lori greeted when she saw her friend.

"Hey." Charlotte's reply even sounded distracted. She had too many things running through her mind at once.

"Are you okay?" She sounded concerned. Charlotte started biting her nails. _Why didn't ya tell me?_ She looked back to see Hannah still sitting there cleaning the fish. _Don't ever let her out of your sight._ Jim's voice replaced Daryl's. _She don't even know who I am._ And it was her fault. All her fault. _The only reason I got away was 'cause the dead were too busy eating my family._ Jim's story haunted her. She couldn't do this alone. What if something happens to her? Hannah would have no one left. There would be no one to protect her. For Christ's sake, she couldn't even hear the damn walkers. All because she was still stubborn to wear her damn CI. Hannah had no clue how to defend herself out there.

"Charlotte, you all right?" Lori repeated the question, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Her voice cracked. Lori scrunched her eyebrows at the sound of her voice.

"C'mon, let's go talk."

Lori led her over to the path in the woods. The one she'd ran through when the kids screamed. The same one she went to go think just before Daryl, Rick, Glenn and T-Dog left. Charlotte took a few deep breaths to calm down.

"What going on with you?" Lori asked. "And don't tell me that you're fine 'cause I know you're not."

"They aren't back yet." Was all she could manage to say. "I'm worried 'bout 'em."

"This wouldn't have anything to do with the talk you had with Daryl Dixon this morning, would it?" Lori's question made Charlotte freeze. She thought nobody was around.

"What did you hear?" She asked

"I just saw you two talking, which I thought was weird since you've never spoken before. If you don't count the time you threatened Merle."

"Trust me Lori, me 'n Daryl, it's real complicated." Charlotte hoped this would be enough to push away the questions.

"So you two know each other?" Of course things like that never did go as she hoped.

"Knew. A long time ago." She looked down at her feet. "Hadn't seen him in years."

"I'm guessing twelve?" Lori suggested making Charlotte pale. "It doesn't take a genius to figure it out. Hannah kind of looks like him. Same eyes, nose."

"She doesn't know. Daryl sort of figured it out."

"You gonna tell her?"

"I dunno. It's complicated." Charlotte shrugged. "I want to ... but everythin's jus' so screwed up right now." If Daryl made it back and was staying, then she would tell Hannah. Maybe... Gah! Why was everything so confusing? As if she didn't have enough to worry about already. "Look, I may not be the best to be givin' advice right now but I think you should tell her." Lori reasoned. "I don't know what happened between you both but she has a right to know." And she was right, of course. Hannah always wanted to know about her dad. Charlotte bit her lip nervously.

"Yeah."

"Whatever you decide, I'm here for you." Lori hugged her tightly to comfort her.

"Thanks Lori. You're a good friend." She let go of the woman.

"We should be getting back." Charlotte nodded. They would be wondering where they went.

It was still pretty light out when they settled for dinner. The fish fry was a nice distraction from all her thoughts. Hannah was excited because it was light enough that she could keep up with conversations. They were laughing, actually laughing. Charlotte swore she'd never heard any of these people laugh so much. Andrea even managed to find some warm beer. She didn't have any because warm beer tasted like piss. She'd had too much of it in her senior year of high school. It brought back memories she'd like to leave behind. So many humiliating moments. Even as the night became more eminent, they still feasted on cooked fish. It wasn't as good as the salmon her mom made, who in turn taught her, but it was the best food she'd had in a long while.

"I've got to ask you, man." Morales turned the attention to Dale. "It's been driving me crazy." Charlotte had finished her fish and was now interpreting the conversation for Hannah.

"What?" Dale asked

"That watch." Morales pointed to the old wrist watch on Dale's wrist. "I see you winding it every day at the same time, like a village priest saying mass." Charlotte had wondered about the watch as well.

"I've wondered this myself." Jacqui stated.

"I'm missing the point." Dale shook his head in confusion. Hannah was grinning at this point, she remembered her daughter asking about the watch before. Charlotte didn't have to interpret anymore since both Dale and Jacqui sat across from them. On her right there was Lori and Carl, on her left sat Carol and Sophia. She was thrilled not to see Ed this evening.

"Unless I've misread the signs, the world seems to have ended. Or at least hit a speed bump for a good long while." Jacqui explained

"But, there's you every day winding that damn watch."

"It's important to keep track of time, isn't it? The days at least. Don't you think, Andrea?" Charlotte's eyes drifted over the blond woman who seemed to freeze. She shook her head pretending not to know what he was talking about. She wondered what that was about. "I like, um, what a father said to son when he gave him a watch handed down through generations. He said, "I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire, which will fit your individual needs no better than it did mine or my father's before me; I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you may forget it for a moment now and then and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it." Charlotte smiled at the quote. Her father used to read her _The Sound and the Fury._

"You are so weird." Amy teased him, everyone let out a laugh.

"It's not me."

"Faulkner right?" Charlotte asked, Dale smiled and nodded in approval.

"Maybe my paraphrasing was a bit off."

"Just a little." Charlotte joked. Amy stood up from the fire.

"Where are you going?" Andrea asked

"I have to pee." Amy whispered. "Jeez, you try to be discreet 'round here." At this the group started to laugh.

They kept talking after that. The topics varied from favourite movies to different stories from before.

"What exactly did you do before all this?" Dale asked Charlotte, she was the only one who never revealed her past. She talked about Hannah but never herself. The group listened intently, all curious about Charlotte's past.

"Notihn' important." Charlotte told them vaguely. She sighed. "I worked odd jobs 'round the town. Nothin' special." It wasn't a complete lie. She just didn't talk about how she could've been a doctor if she hadn't messed up.

"We're out of toilet paper." Charlotte's head snapped over to Amy who was standing in the doorway of the RV. She was just about to tell her there was some under the counter when a man, or not a man, came up from behind the vehicle and bit her arm. Charlotte's eyes widened and Andrea let out a gut wrenching scream.

* * *

Hannah felt her mom pull her close. She could smell the rotting flesh of a dozen walkers. Her heart pounded as they took off, following Shane and Lori closely. She could see the fire shoot out after each shot Shane took from his big shotgun. Hannah wanted nothing than to scream as people from their camp were being eaten everywhere she looked. People were running, she could tell they were screaming. Chaos ensued. How could there be so many up here? This place was supposed to be safe.

Out of the corner of her eye, Hannah saw Mr. Morales smash one of the skulls in with his bat. Where was Sophia? Or Carl? She couldn't see them. What about Eliza or Luis? Were they still alive? How could this have happened? Hannah's thoughts were cut off by the feeling of something pulling her out of her mother's grip. She tripped and fell, trying to scramble away but the hand on her ankle held her too tight. The fear cut through like a sharp blade as the walker snapped it's teeth hungrily at her. She used her free foot to kick the thing hard in the head. Just long enough for her to stand up. That was when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked over and it was a decaying one. She could smell it's breath breathing down her neck. She was going to die. She couldn't scream, she was too petrified. Her mom probably wouldn't know until they found her mangled corps. Where was she? Mom? Tears filled her eyes as she waited for the inevitable bite that would seal her fate. It never came, instead all she could feel was a warm liquid splash onto the back of her neck.

Next thing she knew, she was being picked up and carried. Hannah wrapped her legs tightly around her saviours torso. She looked up to see that it was Daryl carrying her. His eyes were full of concern as he kept looking down at her. Why did he keep staring at her? He set her down next to the RV and she felt someone take her in their arms. Without a doubt, Hannah knew it was her mother. Her mom pulled back and frantically checked her for bites and scratches. Hannah let out a sob of relief when her mom smiled.

_'You O.K.?'_ Hannah saw her mother sign through the tears. She nodded and wrapped her arms around her mother's neck. Her heart was still pounding as she sobbed. She was alive. Daryl had saved her life. She was still breathing, still walking. She was still her.

* * *

Daryl couldn't explain it. When the thought of Merle bringing vengeance back to camp, he was worried. In his mind, they deserved whatever they got for leaving Merle behind. It wasn't all of them though. Charlie and the kid, Hannah. His kid, his daughter. He had a daughter. All this time he had a kid. The thought terrified him. He was going to be a crap dad. He never wanted kids. It wasn't that he didn't like them, he just didn't know how to be a good parent. He didn't have the greatest examples to model himself after. That's probably why Charlie kept it a secret for all these years. Then again, she should've told him and he should've had the choice whether or not he was going to be in the kid's life. Who knows what would've been?

His heart dropped when they first heard the screams coming from the quarry. _Goddammit Merle, if you hurt them._ He silently threatened his brother. Only when they got to camp, it was much worst. Walkers were everywhere. He could hear screaming and sobbing. Daryl raised the gun Rick gave him and started firing. He took down five walkers when he heard her.

"HANNAH!" Charlie's voice echoed as she sobbed. Daryl didn't understand the fear that gripped his chest. Where was she? He shot a few more and began running towards the RV. To Charlie. He passed a walker holding someone. Same hair as Charlie. Hannah, it was her. His daughter, about to be eaten by walkers. No. Not her. He fired his weapon. The bullet landed right in the walker's head. He ran and scooped her up. Daryl kept looking at her, checking, making sure she didn't have any bites or scratches.

Charlie was collapsed on the ground in a sobbing mess with Jim holding her. Daryl put the kid back on the ground.

"Charlie." At the sound of his voice she looked up. She reached and pulled her daughter in closely. He could hear the sobs coming from both of them. Charlie let her go and waved her hands around. Apparently it was their way of communicating. She pulled her daughter into her arms once more. Charlie looked right into his eyes.

"Thank you." Her voice cracked when she looked at him. Daryl gave her a nod but said nothing. He turned and walked back to the pile of dead bodies. She might be his daughter biologically but that didn't make him her father. He couldn't be.

**Aw Daryl! Well things are moving now, season 1 is almost done. I've got some major Charlotte/Daryl planned for the next few chapters and Hannah makes a big move. I hope you guys are enjoying this story. Let me know what you would like in the upcoming chapters. Please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

Charlotte put Hannah in the RV with the other kids as the adults cleaned up the camp from the previous night. Andrea still hadn't moved from Amy's side. She felt sad for the woman. Amy was a beautiful person and didn't deserve to die like that. No one at this camp did. Except, maybe Ed, but even that was a stretch. One thing was for sure, Charlotte knew that it was time. She had to make amends with Daryl and tell Hannah the truth. She couldn't do this on her own. She'd almost lost her daughter last night. Had it not been for Daryl, Charlotte didn't know what she would've done. In all honesty, if Hannah were to die, she didn't see a point in living.

Charlotte was standing next to Lori, Rick and Shane as they peered over at Andrea. She sympathized with the woman. She understood her. Amy had just died, painfully and in her arms. That's enough to screw anyone up. She'd watched Rick go over there, to 'tell her how it is' only to see the blond woman pull out her gun. Rick backed away cautiously and returned to the group.

"You gotta let her have some time." Charlotte reasoned

"The dead girl's a time bomb." She heard Daryl's voice inform them.

"So what, you think we should just go up there a shoot 'er?" She snapped at her ex.

"I can take the shot from here. Hit 'er right 'tween the eyes." He reasoned, Charlotte could see that he was persuading both men. She and Lori shook their heads in disapproval.

"I told ya, all she needs is time. Amy was all Andrea had left. She needs time to say goodbye 'n make peace." Charlotte persuaded Rick. Daryl stomped off, grumbling. Typical. "We'll deal with it when the time comes." Rick nodded in agreement. She gave one last look over to Andrea and Amy, thoughts of her own sister came back into her mind. She snapped out of her daze and forgot about her.

Charlotte went over to help Glenn with moving bodies. He looked upset over something. When she was talking to Rick, out of the corner of her eye she noticed Glenn yelling at Daryl. Something about not burning their people. She gave a comforting smile and grabbed the legs of a walker. She helped him toss it into the fire.

"You gonna tell me what happened?" She asked him.

"We don't burn the ones we cared about." He stated simply. Charlotte nodded understanding. They were still people. They deserved to be treated like people. After last night, there were so few of them left. A lot of good ones died. She felt guilty because she was glad it was them and not her daughter.

"What 'bout Atlanta?" She noticed they didn't come back with Merle. "Was he dead?"

"Don't know. He was gone by the time we got there. Cut off his hand with a hacksaw." She cringed. Merle was one tough and crazy asshole, she'd give him that. Poor Daryl though, Merle was his family. "We thought he was coming back to camp."

"A walker got Jim!" This snapped them out of their conversation. She and Glenn shared a worried look and ran towards the crowd of men.

"I'm okay. I'm okay." Jim reassured. Charlotte had the sneaking suspicion that he was trying to convince himself more than the others.

"Show it to us!" Daryl demanded but Jim didn't move, still claiming he was okay. "Grab him!" Jim grabbed the shovel to defend himself. T-Dog grabbed him from behind and held him as Daryl went over and lifted his shirt, revealing a dark bloody bite mark. Charlotte covered her mouth. Jim was going to die. All the while, he was still mumbling the he was okay.

Charlotte brought Jim over to the RV and sat him down. She looked at him sadly, there was no possible way she could help him. She walked back over to the group to hear them debating over what to do with Jim. As much as she hated to admit it, maybe it was best to put him down. It was the more humane thing to do. _No, he's still alive_. Her mother's voice chastised. She was right, of course. Jim was a living breathing human, maybe not for long but for the time being. It should be his choice. That's what she would want if she were in his position. Although Charlotte already knew what she'd do if she got bit. She wouldn't want to become one of them.

"... Zero tolerance for walkers, or them to be." Charlotte really had to stop loosing herself in her thoughts. By the sound of his voice, Charlotte knew that Daryl was furious.

"What if we can get him help? I heard the CDC was working on a cure." She almost rolled her eyes at Rick's comment.

"We all did Rick. 'Fore the world went to shit." Charlotte said.

"What if the CDC is still up and running?" Rick asked her.

"Man, that is a stretch right there." Shane told him.

"Why?" Rick questioned. "If there's any government left, any structure at all, they'd protect the CDC at all costs, wouldn't they? It's our best shot. Shelter, protection..." Shane cut him off.

"You want all those things? If they exist anywhere, it's at the army base, Fort Benning."

"That's 100 miles in the opposite direction." Lori stated, Not to mention a long shot. Charlotte thought bitterly to herself.

"But it's away from the hot zone and if it's still operational, it'll be heavily armed. We'd be safe." Shane told them.

"Rick has a point." Charlotte decided that his plan was the lesser of two evils. "'Sides, Shane, we know the military was overrun."

"The CDC is Jim's only chance." Rick stated looking back at the poor man by the RV. He was right about that too. If the CDC was still up, maybe they did have a cure. It was a long shot, but they had to hope.

"You go lookin' for aspirin." Daryl's voice mocked. "Someone's gotta have some balls to take care of this damn problem." With that he started charging towards Jim with his pickaxe raised.

"Daryl no!" She cried out. He stopped in mid swing, even before Rick pointed his gun to his head. Charlotte held her breath.

"We don't kill the living." Rick's voice edged.

"That's funny coming from a man who just put a gun to my head." Daryl countered but he still didn't lower the axe.

"We may disagree on some things but not this. You go on and put it down now." Shane urged. Daryl dropped it and stomped off.

* * *

Hannah was tired. Her mom told her to get her some sleep but every time she closed her eyes, the decaying hand reached and grabbed her ankle. Though, no one really slept. Sophia was sniffling because her father died. Hannah tried to comfort her friend but the little girl said that she wasn't all that sad. Her father was a bad man. Hannah reminded her that he was still her family. She said that it was okay to be sad. That was when Rick brought in Jim. He told the kids to leave the RV. Jim was bit. What were they going to do? They couldn't just leave him.

She pushed away all thoughts about Jim and went to see Andrea. She bit back a sob when she saw Amy lying on the ground blood soaked. Her mother told her that Amy was dead but seeing her like that, she was so different from the woman who braided her hair. I always wanted a little sister. Hannah could still see Amy's bright eyes and her lips moving saying those words. She would never know what Amy's voice was like. She imagined that it would be sweet like sugar. Amy, who had talked about Harry Potter with her for hours one day. The vibrant girl who was so protective over her sister ... she was gone. Hannah knelt down and looked back down at Amy's still form. If not for the blood, she would've thought Amy was sleeping.

"I know it won't mean anything," Hannah began. "but I'm sorry about Amy." Andrea looked over at the small girl. She let out a half-smile and looked back down at her sister. Hannah gathered that she wanted to be alone so she got up and walked away.

Hannah walked over and sat next to the fire pit. She counted how many people were left in the camp. There were nineteen of them now. The faces of the walkers flooded into her mind. The rabid snapping of teeth. The bony hands digging into her skin. She was lucky the nails didn't scratch her. Hannah bit her thumb nail to keep from crying. She'd done enough of that. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Carl flop on the seat next to her. She turned to face him.

"I hate this." He complained. Hannah nodded, not trusting her voice. She was scared. She was so scared. Her mom didn't save her last night. She was almost walker chow. None of this ever felt real. Not when that walker came into camp the previous morning. Not when she'd seen Atlanta in flames. It all felt like a dream. Reality smacked her right in the face last night. It wasn't a dream. Walkers were real, and they were dangerous.

The kids sat for a little while longer while longer until their mothers came and got them. They were going to have a funeral for all those they'd lost. Hannah hated funerals. She'd only been to two in her whole life. The first was for a woman mom worked with that died in a car accident when she was six. She remembered holding her mother's hand, not really understanding what was happening. The next was her Granny's funeral just a few months earlier. This time she stood up front, next to her mother once again, but she shook the hands of all the people her Granny was friends with. They lived in a small town where everyone knew each other. Almost the entire town went, even her aunt came back. They all said their condolences, though they tended to blow her off since they didn't know how to act around her. She sat through the ceremony completely still. Since she couldn't hear what the priest was saying, she played through all the memories she had of her. Hannah found herself doing that again as the camp gathered around the holes, the same place that Jim was digging the day before.

One thought creeped back in her mind. _Red sky in morning, sailors take warning. Red sky at night, sailors delight._ She had been right. The sky was a warning. Maybe she should've said something. She kept her feelings shut and now Amy's dead. Sweet, kind Amy who'd called Hannah her little sister. Amy, who was the only one who really understood why she loved reading so much. Hannah swallowed back the lump in her throat. No more tears. She had shed enough. She stayed watching as Andrea struggled to put her sister in the ground. She felt a hand go to her shoulder. Her heart muscles tensed in fear that it would be a decaying hand. Stop, you're safe now. She told herself. Of course that wasn't entirely true. Her mom led her away from the gravesite after Amy's body was firmly planted in the ground. She hoped that wherever Amy was, it was peaceful.

Once again, all the kids were crowded around the fire pit. They still had solemn faces. No one spoke. Hannah was thankful for that. She was too tired to be reading lips right now. She looked over her shoulder to see her mother exiting the RV with Lori and Carol. They must've been checking on Jim. Was he Jim now? Or was he one of them? Hannah decided that if she ever got bit, she would want someone to end it before she turned. She was being morbid again. It was hard to stop. She was surrounded by death. A part of her was envious of Amy. At lease she doesn't have to be afraid anymore. Stop it Hannah! She scolded herself. You're a fighter. You always have been. She was, of course she was. She was raised to fight. Her mom was a fighter and so was she.

Hannah got up from her spot around the campfire and went to her tent. Her mother was there, rooting through their meagre possessions. She reached over and tapped on her shoulder. Her mother jumped and clutched the silver locket around her neck.

_'You scared me.'_ She signed after catching her breath.

_'Sorry.'_ Hannah apologized, she saw that her mom had something in her hand. 'What's that?' She opened her palm guiltily to reveal the CI. Hannah bit her lip to keep her emotions in check. Good lord did she not want to wear it.

_'I know you don't want to wear it. I understand but you have to wear it. I almost lost you last night. And after Amy and Jim. I realized that won't always be here. I won't always be able to protect you. You have to do it for you. Starting by wearing this. You have to grow up in this world and I'm sorry for it. I can't lose you Hannah, I just can't. So that means no more kids stuff.'_ By the end her mom had tears flowing from her eyes. Hannah understood. Her mother was scared.

_'Can I still take it off sometimes?'_ She asked. Silence was all she knew. Her mom cracked a smile and nodded.

_'Of course you can.'_ She told her.

_'O.K.'_ Hannah agreed, the fear gripped her heart. Her mom reached over and hooked up the CI.

Loud, that was the best way of describing it. Every thing was magnified in her brain. Even her breathing was loud.

"Hannah?" She turned the sound of her mother's sweet voice. It was just as she'd imagined it, warm and kind, or maybe she just remembered it. It sounded so familiar to her, like a distant memory picking at her brain. Hannah reached over and pulled her mom in her arms. She was afraid, but as long as she had her mom Hannah knew she would be okay. "C'mon, let's go. We'll figure everything out." She nodded and followed her mother out of the tent.

She took a deep breath as she got closer to the group. The noise was never ending. People whispered all around her, someone was shuffling their feet in the dirt. Her head was starting to ache from it all. Her mom gestured for her to sit down on the seat next to Carl. She pinched the bridge of her nose to stop the migraine that was forming. She knew her mom wanted to explain what was going on with her but she didn't have time. Dale, Shane and Rick came strolling back into camp.

"I've been thinkin' 'bout Rick's plan." Shane's voice was a lot harder than she expected, she thought it would be softer, more loving based on how she's seen him interact with Carl. Lori eyed her mother curiously because her mom wasn't interpreting for her. "There are no guarantees either way. I'll be the first to admit that. I've known this man for a long time. I trust his instincts. I say the most important thing here is that we need to stay together. So those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning."

"Okay?" Rick's voice was much kinder than Shane's, it was sort of reversed. Rick had the voice she'd imagined for Shane. He was more trusting, in her opinion. The only thing is that she didn't know where they were going. She looked at her mother who spelt out the letters CDC. They were going close to the city. Why were they going that close?

_'Why don't you go to bed?'_ She was grateful her mother was signing. She didn't know if her ears could take anymore noise. Hannah nodded before walking off. Even her feet were making sound as they shuffled on the ground. She got to the tent and took out the device in her ear. It was a relief when the sounds of the wind and bugs in the bushes were silenced. Her headache hadn't gone away but she could already feel it fading. She hated the damn thing. She'd get used to it but for right now, she hated it with every fibre of her being.

* * *

Charlotte waited until her daughter was out of ear shot before telling everyone. She knew it was giving her daughter headaches but that was more favourable than her getting eaten by a walker because she couldn't hear it coming. She'd made the right call. This time, she was sure of it.

"So, um," She started slowly, everyone's attention turned to her. "Hannah can hear." She could feel Daryl's heavy gaze on her.

"How?" Rick asked

"Back before the outbreak, Hannah 'n I were in Atlanta 'cause she was gettin' a cochlear implant." The only two who knew the story were Glenn and T-Dog.

"Why didn' ya say anythin' 'fore?" She heard Daryl's voice ask.

"'Cause she's finally wearin' it 'n I didn' think it was anyone's business." She saw Daryl bite his lip, probably to stop a sarcastic remark. "Point is, she's wearin' it but I'm askin' all y'all not to overwhelm her. It'll be hard for her for a while. Talking to her is good, just not too much. Gives her a headache."

"Alright, thank you for telling us." Rick told her, what more could he say to a confession like that. After that the group dispersed. Well, everyone but Daryl.

She sighed. "What d'you want Daryl?"

"You shoulda told me."

"Yes, 'cause you got so much parental right." She snarked

"She's mah kid too." He countered

"Right 'cause ya were such an active part of the last twelve years o' her life." She told him sarcastically.

"'N whose fault is that?" Her anger spiked, she took a step towards him and restrained herself from slapping him.

"Don't you dare. Don't you dare put this on me, Daryl Dixon." Her voice was dangerously low.

"You shoulda made 'er wear it lot sooner." He growled. "Hannah almost died last night."

"You think I don't know that? That's why I'm makin' her wear it now. This place was supposed to be safe." She defended herself. "I know I shoulda done it sooner but I couldn't. She was scared 'n I don't blame 'er, she didn't want the first sound she heard to be a geek growlin'. I ain't a perfect mother 'n I know that. Believe me I do." She'd screwed up so many times when it came to Hannah. "Point is she's wearin' now so what happened last night doesn't happen again. You don' hafta agree with my choice but you can't say anythin'. She might be your kid, but she's my responsibility." With that she walked away. When she got back to the tent, Hannah was already asleep. She collapsed in her cot and fell asleep. This day was exhausting.

**So yay! Hannah's finally wearing the implant. I don't pretend to know anything about cochlear implants, I go based on what I've found on the internet. There won't be much Daryl/Hannah interaction in the first part. I'm writing season 2 right now and just wrote a really cute scene between the two. Anyway, please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

They packed up camp early the next morning. Charlotte loaded their things in T-Dog's church van. Hannah was sitting with Sophia and Carl, they were talking to her. She was smiling and nodding along. She didn't speak but the doctors said that was normal. Charlotte made sure she was well prepared when it came to it with speech therapy. Though, it would be different hearing her own voice. It would take some time before Hannah grew comfortable with it. She felt Daryl's steely gaze. They had to work something out. He was here, and as far as she could tell, Daryl was not going anywhere. Hannah came and stood next to her as Shane gathered around them.

"Everybody listen up. Those of you with , we're gonna be on channel 40. Keep the chatter down, okay? If ya don't have one, or don't have a signal or anything at all, hit your horn once. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?" Shane explained, that was when Morales stepped forward.

"We're, uh ... we're not going." This caught Charlotte's off guard.

"We have family in Birmingham. We want to be with our people." Morales's wife Miranda spoke up. Charlotte liked Miranda. She was a sweet woman and a good mother. She didn't understand why they were doing this. She looked over to see Luis and Eliza in tears. They were so young. How was Morales going to protect them all?

"You go out there alone, you won't have anyone to watch your back." Shane voiced what everyone was thinking.

"We'll take our chances." He looked right at Rick when he said the next sentence. "I got to do what's best for my family."

"You sure?" Rick asked

"We talked about it. We're sure." He reassured

Charlotte and Hannah said their goodbyes to the Morales family. They weren't terribly close but it still made her sad that they would never see them again. She watched as Rick handed him a gun and a box of ammo. Daryl rolled his eyes and went over to his truck. Charlotte knew what had to be done. She looked down at Hannah.

"Hey baby, I need you to go with T-Dog and Andrea in the van. I have to work on some things. Understand?" Out of habit, she found herself signing as she spoke. Though maybe it was best she did. It would keep some sort of normalcy in Hannah's life. Her daughter nodded and crawled into the back seat of the van. She walked over to T-Dog and told him that Hannah was riding with him and that she had to do something. He understood and promised to keep her safe. She thanked him and walked towards the familiar beat up truck.

Daryl was leaning against his truck with a smoke in hand. She wondered where he got it from. Probably from Ed Pelletier's stuff.

"Ya know those things'll kill ya?" She teased catching his attention. It was a reminder of how they first met all those years ago.

"Yeah, they ain't the only thing." He said before tossing it down. "What'cha doin' here Charlie?"

"We need to talk. Work some things out." She explained.

"Now ain't the best time."

"We got plenty o' time. A whole car ride." She told him

"Where's Hannah?"

"With T 'n Andrea. She's safe."

"Get in." He gestured. She smiled and went over to the passenger's side door. Her heart was pounding at the impending car ride. _Buck up. You gotta do what's right for that little girl._ Her mother's voice ordered her.

They were silent for the first ten minutes of the trip. When they pulled out of the quarry for the last time, she watched as the Morales family car got smaller and smaller in her rearview mirror. She took a deep breath before beginning.

"So... I'm guessin' you got questions. Ask 'em." She told him.

"How long?"

"Beg you're pardon?" She wondered

"When di'ja find out you were pregnant?"

"Same day ya left." She almost laughed.

"Were ya ever gonna tell me?"

"I dunno." She answered honestly. "Maybe 'ventually."

"Why?"

"There were so many times that I picked up the phone 'n dialed. Hung up every time. Wrote dozens 'o letters, never sent 'em." She'd stored them in a box with every single piece of their relationship in the attic. She didn't want to give it up just in case she ever decided to tell Hannah. "I was so angry at you. I was hurt. I didn' understand why you just up 'n left." She paused her voice breaking. "Tell me the truth, had I told you about her, would you've stayed? Would you've dropped everythin' 'n helped me raise her?" Daryl stayed silent. She had her answer. "That's why I didn' tell you. Hannah deserved to have a father who was around."

"I still had the right to know." He countered.

"Maybe." There was silence after that. She broke it. "It may not a been the right call, but it don't matter. You're here now. I can't do it alone anymore. She needs you." _So do I._ She kept the last part to herself. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Daryl nod and nervously bite on his thumb nail. "I know you wanna go find Merle. 'N I understand that, he's family, he's blood. But he ain't here, she is. If you wanna make it right, start now."

"Okay." He agreed.

"Good." She said. "I know things'll never be like they used to 'tween you 'n me 'n maybe that's best but maybe we can be friends." She suggested.

"Okay." He agreed once more.

"Anythin' else ya wanna know?"

"How did it happen? Her..." He drifted off but Charlotte put two and two together.

"She lost her hearin' when she was three." Charlotte swallowed back the lump in her throat, she didn't want to talk about it. Luckily, her story was cut off by the cars in front hitting the breaks. It the distance she could see smoke rising from the RV. Daryl turned off the truck and they both hopped out.

Upon arriving to the rest of the group, Charlotte checked in on Hannah, who was now sitting in Carol's car with the other kids. She decided to go see if she could help with Jim. Jacqui was sitting in the unbearably hot RV next to a moaning Jim.

"Here, let me help." Charlotte said as she took the cloth from Jacqui and pressed it to Jim steaming forehead. The fever was killing him. He wasn't going to make it to Atlanta. She wasn't going to tell him that though. "His skin feels like a furnace." She whispered to Jacqui. She nodded as he let out another groan in pain. "Go get the others. He ain't gonna make the trip." She nodded once more before going out of the RV. "You're gonna be just fine Jim." It was always best to reassure the patient.

"We both know that's not true." Charlotte looked away from him. "Keep 'em safe." Jim mumbled

"Keep who safe, Jim?"

"Your family. Hannah and Daryl. Don't let 'em outta your sight." She froze.

"How did you know 'bout him?"

"Heard you talking to him the morning they left for Atlanta." Had everyone heard them talking? She didn't have time to say anything else before Rick walked in.

"We'll be back on the road soon." He said softly, hoping it would make the man fight a little bit harder.

"Oh no." Jim groaned. "Christ ... My bones ... They're like glass. Ever little bump ... God this ride is killing me. I'm done. Just leave me." Charlotte felt his eyes on her. "I want to be with my family."

"They're all dead." Rick reminded him, hoping that it was the fever talking. "I don't think you know what you're asking. You've been delirious more often than not."

"I know. I'm clear now. Five minutes from now, I may not be. I know what I'm asking. This is what I want. Leave me here." Rick still seemed hesitant. "That's on me. Okay? My choice. Not your failure." Rick took a deep breath and nodded before exiting the RV. Charlotte got up to follow him when Jim's voice stopped her for a second. "Don't let them go." She nodded and walked out of the RV.

Everyone was gathered around the vehicle. Rick had explained what had just transpired inside. Charlotte got a look of curiosity from Lori, almost as if she was asking whether or not she was okay. She gave a short nod indicating that she was fine, even though that was a lie.

"...I would never go along with callously killing a man." She tuned into the conversation half-way through one of Dale's speeches. "I was just gonna suggest that we ask him what he wants. We have our answer."

"Just leaving him here and take off?" Shane questioned. "I don't know if I could live with that."

"It's not your call to make." Charlotte told them from doorway. "Either one o' you. Dale's right. We shoulda asked him from the get-go. He made his choice. We gotta honour it." The group gave her sad nods. They knew she was right.

After that, things went by real fast. Shane and Rick carried Jim to a nearby tree. He groaned about another damn tree. They told him it didn't have to be this way but deep down, Charlotte knew they knew it did. Jim said that it was nice, the breeze felt good. Jacqui went up and kissed on the cheek and told him not to fight. He'd done his fighting. Now it was time for Jim to rest. Dale tried to stay strong but his voice cracked a bit when he spoke. Rick offered him a gun but the man refused saying they would need it. All the while Charlotte stood perfectly still with Hannah in her grasp. Daryl stood next to them. She felt a tear roll down her face. They all made goodbye signs to Jim before one by one leaving. Charlotte gave him a nod, saying that she would do what he told her. She wasn't going to let her family become like Jim's. She held Hannah's hand and put her in the van with T-Dog and Andrea. She walked back over to the truck.

They didn't speak this time. They didn't need to. Charlotte had said all that she needed to and Daryl didn't press for anymore answers. He sensed that she didn't want to talk about what happened to Hannah so he didn't ask again. She was grateful for it. She thought back to the one time she almost told him. Hannah was about a year old. It was her first birthday. After putting her to bed, Charlotte picked up the phone, like she'd done countless times previous. She swallowed her fear and dialled the number. Usually she would hang up just before punching in the last digit. Not this time. For some reason, that particular day, she put in the last number and let the phone ring. With every ring her anxiety grew. That is, until she heard his familiar gruff voice. '_Hello?'_ She froze when he answered. _'Hello?'_ He repeated but she couldn't find her voice. He said it one more time before hanging up. Charlotte dropped the phone and crumbled to the ground and sobbed. She was a coward.

* * *

Hannah was thankful that no one spoke in the van. She had her nose buried deep in a book as usual, she wanted to draw but it was hard to do in a moving vehicle. Though she found it hard to concentrate because her head was pounding to the sound of the van's rumbling engine. She tried to focus on the words but it was like they were slipping off the page. She pinched the bridge of her nose to try to keep the headache at bay.

"We're here." T-Dog stated. She put her book back in her bag and threw it over her back.

She stepped out of the van and was hit by a wave of nausea. The smell was unbearable. Her mom came over and pulled her close. She gripped her hand as they began the walk through the battle scene.

"All right, keep moving." Shane whispered as they crept like mice. "Go on. Stay quiet. Let's go." Hannah coughed as the smell of death burnt the inside of her nose. If her mother's hand wasn't pulling her, she probably would've collapsed and thrown up. Everyone shushed each other if someone spoke. Hannah was wary every time she stepped over a body, in fear that it would rise up and bite her.

The CDC building loomed over them. Hannah watched as Rick went over to the shuttered doors. She felt her heart drop as he banged on the doors. Were they locked? They couldn't be.

"There's nobody here." T-Dog stated

"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick countered.

"Walkers!" This was the first time she'd heard Daryl's voice. It caught her off guard. Her mom pushed Hannah protectively behind her. "You led us into a graveyard!" The harshness of his voice scared her. He was right though, they were in a graveyard.

"He made a call!" Dale defended.

"It was the wrong damn call!" It was getting too loud. Hannah covered her ears to block out all the noise. It was so loud, fear. Being scared made everything skull cracking loud. Even her heart wouldn't shut up. It echoed in her ears. Fear seemed to be the loudest emotion. Everything was amplified when someone is feeling it. When someone is terrified, they become crippled by fear. She'd only heard a few emotions: happiness, sadness, but her least favourite was fear. It was different seeing it or feeling it to hearing it. She was scared. They'd come all this way, they couldn't just die now. No, Hannah wasn't dying today. No one was. Her mother tugged on her arm. They were going running.

"... You're killing us!" The minute she uncovered her ears, she could hear Rick's desperate wailing. Everyone was yelling, getting ready to flee when all the sudden, a bright white light filled her vision. Were they dead? Was this heaven? No, it couldn't be. She couldn't remember dying. The smell of rotting flesh still burn her nose. Hannah could still hear the sounds of people panicking. Her heaven would be silent.

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review!**


	11. Chapter 11

They didn't wait a moment longer. Hannah ran after her mother into the white light. Funny that she was running to the light when usually they tell you to run away, but this one was warm and friendly. Or at least she hoped so.

"Hello?" Rick called once they made it in the massive lobby. "Hello?" It sort of reminded her of the lobby of a museum. She must've been about eight when her mom took her to the museum of Natural History in Atlanta.

"Is anyone bit?" A voice asked from the shadows. It was empty and hallow.

"One of our group was." Rick stated, his voice racked with guilt. At least, that's what she thought guilt might sound like. "He didn't make it." Hannah's mind drifted over to Jim who was laying by the tree. He looked peaceful. She wondered if he was still Jim or if he was one of them now.

"What do you want?" The voice crept out of the shadows. He was old, well not as old as Dale but for sure older than her mom. His hair was a dirty blond and eerily clean. Hannah's gaze went to the man's dark brown eyes. They, much like his voice, were lifeless.

"A chance." Rick told him.

"That's an awful lot to ask." The man noticed.

"I know."

"You all submit to a blood test." The man explained. "That's the price of admission." Rick agreed and he then said to grab whatever supplies they'd need. The men went back out to the cars.

It didn't take long for them to get back. Daryl handed them her and her mother's packs. Her mom thanked him, he in return gave a curt nod. There was something weird going on between them. Hannah thought she hated the Dixon family but now she was riding with Daryl and he was getting them their packs. Something was definitely changing.

"Vi, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here." The man ordered to someone they couldn't see.

"Rick Grimes." He introduced himself taking the man's hand.

"Dr. Edwin Jenner." Oh good, at least he wasn't the custodian of the CDC. Dr. Jenner led the group of survivors to the elevators. It had been so long since she'd been in one. While she was conscious. The difference now was that she could hear the hum of the machine. Hannah tried to hide it, but her head was splitting. She'd read somewhere that pinching the skin in between her thumb and index finger would help stop headaches. She kept squeezing the skin to no avail. Her headache wouldn't go away.

"Doctors always packin' heat like that?" This time Daryl's voice was clam. It still had an edge to it but it wasn't as scary.

"There was plenty left lying around. I thought it best to familiarize myself." Dr. Jenner explained, "But you look harmless enough." Then he eyed Carl. "Except you, I'll have to keep my eye on you." He was teasing him. Carl grinned.

Hannah walked next to Carl as they started down the hallway.

"Are we underground?" Carol asked, No, we just took an elevator to the top floor that happens to have no windows. Hannah thought sarcastically to herself. Of course they were underground. When Hannah wasn't wearing the damn CI, she missed all the stupid things people would say. Apparently hearing people liked to point out the obvious out loud. You're hearing now too dummy. She was, although her hearing could turn on and off. She wasn't deaf anymore but maybe not entirely hearing either. Frankly, Hannah didn't know what she was.

"Vi, bring up the lights in the main room." Dr. Jenner ordered. Hannah watched as the illuminated, there must've been fifty computers set up. She looked around to see if there was anyone else."I'm all that's left." That couldn't be right. This was the CDC, there had to be others.

"What about that person you were speaking to earlier, Vi?" Her mom asked from behind her.

"Vi, say hello to our guests, tell them welcome." Dr. Jenner ordered.

"Hello guests, welcome." A disembodied voice greeted. If Hannah weren't so freaked out, she'd probably be fascinated by the fact that they managed to create a non-homicidal artificial intelligence. Her mother made her watch _2001: A Space Odyssey_ at least a dozen times growing up. It was one of her mom's favorite movies. She wasn't much a fan of it but her mom argued that if she had to watch _Harry Potter_ on endless loops, she could watch whatever movie she wanted. Her mom was a bit of a sci-fi fanatic. Hannah, by exposure, was as well. Except that she could live with _Star Wars Episode I_ while her mother refused to watch it again.

"I'm sorry." He apologized.

Hannah waited next to Carl and Sophia, who was carrying Eliza's former doll, while the grown-ups one by one went up for their blood tests. The kids had been the first to go. She'd been to the hospital enough times that needles didn't freak her out anymore. She was exhausted and her skull was splitting. Her stomach was grumbling. It had been since the fish fry that they'd eaten. It was Andrea's turn now.

"What's the point in all of this?" She asked the doctor. " If we were infected, we'd all be running a fever right now." Hannah thought back to Jim's pale and sickly skin leaning against the tree.

"I've already broken all the rules even letting you in here. Just let me be thorough." Dr. Jenner explained. When he finished, Andrea stood up and swayed. Jacqui explained that no one had eaten in a long time. Hannah liked Jacqui's voice, it was soft and kind but also the kind of voice that she wouldn't want to mess with.

* * *

Charlotte was starting to feel the wine, maybe it was because her tolerance was next to nothing now. She hadn't heard them laughing since the night of the fish fry. Even then, it wasn't as warm as it was now. Hannah was smiling, though she could tell her daughter was suppressing a headache.

"You okay?" She whispered to her daughter. Hannah looked up and smiled and nodded her head.

"You know," Dale started, trying to get Lori to let Carl have some wine. "In Italy and France children have wine with dinner."

"Well, when Carl is in either Italy or France he can have some then." Lori argued.

"C'mon what's it gonna hurt?" Rick said, Charlotte could tell that he was always the 'good cop' and Lori was 'bad cop' when it came to Carl. She didn't have that luxury when it came to Hannah. This time the woman didn't object. Lori laughed as Dale poured a bit of the liquid in the boy's cup.

"Hannah? Sophia? Do you want some?" Dale questioned.

"No sir." Sophia responded. Charlotte looked down at her daughter and gave her a questioning look. She hesitated.

_'Can I?'_ Hannah questioned her mom. Charlotte nodded, if she knew her daughter, she knew she'd hate wine. Charlotte only grew a taste for it in the latter years. She looked up at Dale who poured the dark red substance in her cup. Hannah, along with Carl took a sip out of the cup.

"Ew!" He grimaced making everyone laugh. Hannah didn't even swallow it, she just let it sit in her mouth before spitting it out. The group bursted out into laughter once more. Hannah shuddered and the after taste on her tongue.

"That's my girl." Charlotte said following Lori's suit and emptying the cup in her own.

"You kids should stick to soda pop." Shane joked as Hannah reached and grabbed for the water. She was occasionally shuddering at the memory of the taste.

"Not you Glenn." Daryl's voice boomed from behind them. "Keep drinking, lil' man. Wanna see how red yer face can get." Once more laughter erupted from the table. Charlotte looked over to see that Dr. Jenner wasn't as celebratory as the rest were. Rick seemed to notice as well, he tapped his glass to get everyone's attention, like they would do at weddings.

"Seems we haven't properly thanks our host." Rick said

"He is more than our host." T-Dog exclaimed.

"Hear, hear!" Charlotte agreed raising her glass.

"Here's to you, doc. Booyah!" She laughed at the sound of Daryl's voice. He raised his bottle of whiskey. They all followed suite and chorused 'Booyah's'. Charlotte knew she was tipsy, since she was participating.

"So when are you gonna tell us what happened here, doc?" Shane asked and suddenly the mood shifted. "All the other doctors that were supposed to figure out what happened, where are they?"

"We're celebrating, Shane." Rick told him.

"This was your move." Shane pointed out. "We came here for answers. 'Stead we found him. Just one guy, why?"

"When things got bad, a lot of people just left." Jenner explained. "Went off to be with their families. When the army was overrun, a lot bolted."

"Every last one?" Andrea asked.

"Many couldn't face walking out the door. They 'opted out'. There was a rash of suicides." Charlotte tensed at the word. In her brief period as a medical student, she'd seen people come in after attempting suicide. "Why didn't you leave?" Charlotte asked

"I just kept hoping to do some good." His voice was hallow at this. She wasn't looking at a man, but the shell of one. He was alive, yes, but he wasn't living. He was going through the motions. He might as well be a walker.

"Dude, you are such a buzzkill." Glenn told Shane, Charlotte couldn't help but agree. Once, just once, she'd like them to have a fun night that didn't have to end abruptly.

After everyone finished eating, Jenner led them down a hallway. He explained that most of the facility was powered down but the offices had couches that were comfortable as well as cots.

"There's a rec. room down the hall that you kids might enjoy." Jenner said to the three. "Just don't plug any of the video games in. Or anything that draws power." The kids nodded excitedly. "Same goes for you all, if you shower go easy on the hot water." Charlotte's ears perked up at the mention of hot water. She never thought she'd be able to have a hot shower ever again.

"Hot water?" Glenn repeated in a dazed voice

"That's what the man said." T-Dog said as the two took off running to the showers.

* * *

The rec. room wasn't much. There were quite a few boardgames which was nice and enough books to last them for forever. Sophia and Carl were deciding on what they were going to play. Hannah, on the other hand, was sitting on one of the couches with her sketch book in hand. She felt remarkably fresh after her shower. She probably weighed about three pounds less after all the dirt came off. She did have baths at the quarry, only it was in the freezing cold water. The steaming hot water felt so good on her skin. She was back in a world of silence, which was perfect for her. Her mom told her not to get the thing wet, though apparently wearing it in the rain was okay, as long as it didn't get soaked. Her migraine was still pounding, though it was expected. Hopefully, with a good nights sleep and some relaxation would do her some good.

She found herself drawing the quarry, or at least what it looked like when they left. She made the lines darker than she normally would. It gave a sort of darker element to what she was used to but it also made it louder. Usually in her art, everything was perfect and precise. Now, it was chaotic. It felt like she was trying to capture everything that happened the night of the fish fry and of hearing for the first time. In her picture it was night, which is odd since usually Hannah hated the night. It was the loneliest time of day. She didn't draw the stars, yet she still knew it was night. She was pulled away from her drawing by a tap on her knee. It was Carl. He looked at the picture, his eyes widened.

"Whoa, that's really cool." Carl pointed out.

"Thanks." She smiled. "It's louder than my other stuff. Guess I'm just showing how loud the world is."

"You think it's loud." Carl asked

"Very."

"That's funny. It's quiet now. Before, there was noise everywhere." Hannah's eyes widened in horror.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, trains used to go by and wake people up. Sirens would blast in the middle of the night." Carl's explanation of the world before caused her to shudder. "Now it's weird that there is no more noise." Except for walkers, she was lucky to have not heard the moans yet. Problem was that it was only a matter of time. "I miss it sometimes."

"The noise?"

"Yeah. I would love it if an ambulance. It would mean everything would be back to normal." The adults didn't give the children enough credit. Most of them just brushed off what they had to say and didn't take them seriously. Kids are more perceptive than that. They noticed things that others didn't and thought a different way. They weren't as immature as the adults believed. In just the month they'd known each other, Hannah was already starting to see that Carl was growing up. Carol tapped on her shoulder and told her it was time for bed. She was drawing for much longer than she thought. She closed her book, stood up and walked out of the room. She said good night to Lori, who had come into the room at some point, and made her way back over to their room.

* * *

Charlotte basked in the hot water. She kept the shower short and sweet since that's what Jenner asked. It was still the one of the greatest ten minutes of her life. She scrubbed all the dirt and grime off until her skin felt raw. It felt as if she were shedding her skin like a lizard. Hannah had taken her shower first. She was gone with the other kids by the time Charlotte got back. They were rooming with Carol and Sophia. She threw on an old ratty shirt of Glenn's that he'd given her at the beginning and a pair of boy shorts. She noticed the external part of the cochlear on the table next to her couch. She knew it was hurting her. Charlotte walked out of the room and made her way towards Zone 5. Dr. Jenner was sitting there analyzing the blood samples.

"Dr. Jenner?" She timidly called out. The man turned towards her. "Hi, sorry if I'm botherin' you. I was just wonderin' if you had 'ny pain meds."

"Yeah, right here." He leaned over and grabbed some. "I get headaches when I stare at the computer screen for too long."

"Thank you."

"For your little girl right?" She nodded. "I saw you guys talking at the dinner table. How long has she been wearing the implant?"

"Two days." He seemed caught off guard by the answer. "We got it jus' 'fore it all happened. Only started wearin' it after our camp was attacked." She explained. "Thank you, for everythin' you've been so kind to us." She told him sincerely before exiting the room. She crossed paths with a very intoxicated Rick. She giggled to herself before going back to her room. Carol was there with the girls.

_'Got you something.'_ Charlotte tossed the bottle to Hannah. She looked down and smiled at the label.

_'Thanks.'_

_'Start with one, tomorrow we will see if you need more. Understand?'_ Charlotte questioned, Hannah gave the sign for yes. She opened the bottle and took the pill.

"I think its time for bed." Carol told the kids. Sophia groaned before going to her cot that was set up next to the couch. Hannah frowned before taking the couch. "I'm going to sleep." Carol informed Charlotte.

"Think I might stay up for a bit." She said before kissing her daughter's forehead good night.

She followed the sound of loud laughter coming from the kitchen area. When she got there she saw T, Glenn and Daryl all sitting there with his bottle of whiskey.

"Room for one more?" She asked the obviously intoxicated men. Daryl handed her the bottle. She took a swing and coughed as the liquid burnt the back of her throat. She took a seat next to Glenn who was laughing hysterically as she took another drink and coughed once more.

"Can't handle whiskey?" T-Dog mocked. Charlotte scoffed at the comment.

"I can. Just been a while." She defended herself.

"C'mon, momma here is too sober." Glenn stated, he gestured for her to take another gulp she smirked before putting the bottle to her mouth.

It didn't take long for Charlotte's world to go fuzzy. She and the guys were laughing hysterically as they shared funny stories around the table. This particular one was about her first night in the emergency room.

"K, I gotta good one. So I was a medical intern 'n my first night in the emergency room, a young couple walks in. She tells me that they were gettin' down 'n dirty. She was tryin' ta be kinky or some shit, took her vibrator 'n stuck it up her boyfriend's ass. Guess she went too deep cause it got buried. I shit you not, it was still fuckin' vibratin' when we pulled it out." They all dissolved into laughter.

"You gotta be bullshitting me right now." T-Dog said in disbelief.

"Nope all true. I couldn't even look at one without cringin'." Charlotte declared. "You wouldn't believe the amount o' weird shit I've seen in my time. Some stories would have ya pukin'."

"You were a doctor?" Glenn asked, she frowned not looking in anyone's eye.

"Technically yes, but I never finished my residency. Had to drop out jus' 'fore the end of my first year as a resident." She explained.

"Why?" Daryl's voice was laced with guilt.

"Don't matter. Other things took priority." She took another swing of the bottle. There was a thunk on the table. Charlotte looked over to see Glenn passed out on the table.

"Looks like Chinaman can't hold his liquor." Daryl laughed.

"He's Korean." She reminded him slurring on her words.

"Yeah, yeah." He brushed it off.

"Okay, I'm gonna get 'im ta bed." Charlotte informed the two men.

"I'll help ya." Daryl stated getting up.

"Nah, I got it." She reassured before slinging Glenn's arm over her shoulder. He was a lot heavier than she expected him to be. She just about fell over when the weight lifted a bit. She looked over to see Daryl holding Glenn's other side. "Thanks." He said nothing as they started walking.

They didn't talk as they sauntered down the hall. When they reached the room both T-Dog and Glenn shared, Charlotte stopped him.

"I got him from here." She told him

"You sure?" She nodded and Daryl let the young man go. She opened the door and dragged him inside.

"C'mon ya big lug, let's get ya to bed." She grunted as she tossed him onto the couch.

"Thanks mom." He mumbled, her heart broke.

"Sleep tight kid. You're gonna have one killer headache." She whispered before exiting the room.

She walked down the hall again. Her thoughts went back to Glenn. He called her mom. He thought she was his mom putting her to bed. He would never see his mother again, he mentioned he had sisters, they were all gone. The thought made her sad. She was lucky to still have her family. Well, most of it anyway. Subconsciously, she touched the locket around her neck. I miss you mom. She hoped she could hear her. Another part wondered about her sister and whether or not she was still alive. She'd never know now. It was probable that she was dead as well.

"Why di'ja leave school?" Daryl's voice pulled her out of his thoughts. She turned to find him still standing there, watching her.

"Daryl, now's not the time." She said seriously. "You're drunk, I'm drunk. We are not havin' this talk right now. 'Kay? I'm goin' to bed. I think you should to." She turned to walk back to her room. This was not something she wanted to deal with tonight.

"I never stopped thinkin' 'bout ya, Charlie." His voice again made her turn.

"Daryl, please, not now." The last thing she wanted to hear was this. It made it so much easier not telling him about Hannah when she believed that he didn't care about her. The last thing she wanted to know was that he still cared. They hadn't seen each other in twelve years, to know that he still thought about her, she couldn't even think about it. Her heart had already been shattered once before, she didn't know if she could take it again. "Good night." She said more firmly this time before turning around and walking back to her room. She swallowed the lump that grew in her throat as she crawled into bed. Maybe it was the whiskey or Daryl's words but a tear drifted down her face. Her heart felt heavy in her chest. All this was slowly crushing her. She didn't know how much more she could take.

**Charlie... you're breaking my heart! Also, 2 hours until the Season 4 finale. I am not emotionally prepared. If you haven't noticed, I've been dropping hints (very unsubtle in my opinion) to a new character that I think is making an appearance in part 2 (aka Season 2) or part 3. Either way, I hope you enjoyed it. I for one love writing as Hannah, I think she's a mature character for someone her age. Warning you in advance, I probably have to take a bit of a break since it's crunch time for school work (finals are coming up in two weeks) and I have to write more. Please review and tell me what you think! **


	12. Chapter 12

Hannah's head felt immensely better after the pill she took the previous night. She put back her implant before heading over to the dining hall area. T-Dog was already awake, as was Dale, she didn't know what time it was exactly but she guessed around six in the morning.

"'Morning kid." T-Dog said once he saw her come in. Even though she could hear him, she still didn't understand why they always said 'Morning' as a greeting and not 'Good Morning'. It's like they were pointing out what time of day it was which Hannah thought was silly. "I'm making eggs. Wanna help?" He asked from behind the counter. She lit up and walked over to him. Dale was smiling at them. Hannah was right about him, he was everything she wanted in a Grandpa. Dale's voice was just as kind and wise as she pictured it to be. Even when he was offering her wine the night before, which was possibly the most disgusting thing she'd ever put in her mouth. She had been embarrassed when she spat it out all over the table but her mom never said anything about it. Her Granny would've been mortified at the sight. She was always so proper.

He taught her how to scramble the eggs as the group was waking. Dr. Jenner came by and handed them another bottle of ibuprofen. Glenn came stumbling in, moaning the entire time. Hannah smirked at the sight of him. When she was younger, she'd seen her mom occasionally wake up with a hangover. She grabbed the bottle and walked over to Glenn whose head was in his hands. She tapped on his shoulder and handed him the bottle.

"Thanks." He sounded tired. Hannah smiled at him and went back to cooking with T-Dog.

Their group slowly came into the kitchen. Her mom walked in with Carol and Sophia. She looked tired, like she hadn't slept in ages. Lori and Carl came shortly after and took a spot next to her mom.

"Why don't you go give those to your mom?" T-Dog suggested, Hannah nodded and grabbed the plates for her and her mom.

_'Bacon and eggs. T-Dog showed me how to make them.'_ She explained proudly to her mother when she placed the plate in front of her.

_'Very cool.'_ She signed back impressed before digging into the eggs.

"What sign was that?" Carl asked from next to her. "The one where you hit your hip?"

"It's the sign for dog and the T after. It's a sign name for 'T-Dog'." Her mom explained.

"Oh cool!" Carl stated. "What's mine?" Hannah smiled and did his. He repeated it and smiled.

The eggs tasted pretty good. She looked up to see Rick walking into the kitchen.

"Morning." Again with that greeting that Hannah didn't understand.

"Are you hungover?" Carl asked, Rick cracked a smile. "Mom said you'd be."

"Mom is right." Rick answered. Hannah turned to her own mother. She tapped on her shoulder. Her mother turned to her.

_'Are you hungover?'_ She questioned. Her mom laughed.

_'Just a little.'_ Hannah smirked and continued eating her eggs.

"Eggs, powdered but Hannah and I made 'em good." T-Dog said as Glenn moaned loudly from across the table.

"Never let me drink again." He groaned. Her mom snickered at the comment.

"Hey." Shane greeted when he walked in. Hannah noticed three scratches on his neck. She wondered how that happened. She listened as he explained that he probably did it in his sleep. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Lori avert her gaze from Shane. That was strange, they used to get along really well. Hannah brushed it off and kept eating.

She finished her food just as Dr. Jenner walked in and greeted the group of well rested survivors. Hannah, for the first time in a long time, felt full. Her mom tapped her shoulder.

_'After breakfast we'll start working on your speech.'_ Hannah grimaced at the plan. She didn't want to talk. She didn't want to hear the sound of her own voice.

_'O.K.'_ Begrudgingly she agreed.

"Dr. Jenner, I don't mean to ask you questions first thing in the morning..." Dale started after sharing a look with Andrea.

"But you will anyway." He joked

"We didn't come here for the eggs." Andrea stated. "We want answers." She was right, they needed answers.

They found themselves in Zone 5 once more, they gathered around Dr. Jenner. Hannah kept close to her mother, who stood next to Lori.

"Vi, show the playback of TS-19." Dr. Jenner demanded.

"Viewing playback of TS-19." The computer repeated as the screen in front of them illuminated.

"Is that a brain?" Carl asked from next to her. Hannah rolled her eyes and looked back up at the screen. It was the X-Ray of a person. It focused on the brain. Of course it was a brain.

"An extraordinary one." Dr. Jenner stated. "Not that it matters in the end." He had to have known this person. Hannah could tell by the look in his eyes when he stared them down. It was the first sign of emotion he'd seen in his eyes since they met. Her Granny had the same look in her eyes when she talked about her Grandpa. "Vi take us in E.I.V."

"Enhancing Internal View."

"What are those lights?" Rick asked

"They're you. Everything you'll ever say or ever do." He explained

"You don't make sense ever?" Daryl asked from across the room.

"They're synapses." Her mom's voice rang from behind her. Dr. Jenner turned back towards them.

"That's right." He sounded impressed. He shouldn't be. Her mom was brilliant. " Electric impulses in the brain that carry all the messages. They're what makes you human, they determine everything from the moment of birth to the moment of death." The last word made her blood freeze.

"Death? Is that what this is, a vigil?" Rick questioned

"At least the playback of one."

"This person died?" Andrea wondered. Hannah's spine felt as cold as ice.

"Test Subject 19, a person who was bitten and offered to have us record the process." Dr. Jenner explained. "Vi, scan to first event."

"Scanning to first event." She watched as something started spreading in the brain. It was black and sinister.

"It looks like meningitis." Her mother's voice was tight. Hannah's eyes widened, she'd had meningitis as a child. This is what her brain looked like?

"It spreads like it, yes." Dr. Jenner explained. "Shuts the brain and then the major organs down slowly until finally, death." The brain was completely dead by then. Next to her, Andrea let out a sob. The doctor looked back at her in curiosity.

"She lost someone two days ago." Lori explained. "Her sister." Hannah's thoughts went back to the sweet blond woman who had braided her hair. I always wanted a little sister. And she'd always wanted a big sister. She missed Amy. She missed her a lot.

"I lost someone too. I know how devastating it can be." Dr. Jenner comforted. "Vi scan to second event."

"Scanning to second event." The darkened brain started to somewhat glow again. This time it wasn't a happy light blue but a sinister red. The person on the table started thrashing wildly on the screen.

"Resurrection times vary wildly. We've had reports of as little as three minutes. The longest recorded one was eight hours." His tone of voice made one thing perfectly clear, he didn't know what this thing was. "For this patient it was two hours, one minute and seven-seconds."

"It restarts the brain?" Lori questioned

"No, just the brain stem. It basically just gets you up and moving." The doctor explained.

"But they aren't alive?" Rick wanted clarification.

"You tell me." he gestured to the thrashing person on the screen. No, they couldn't be alive. The brain still looked dead.

"It isn't like it was before." Rick said looking up at the brain. "This one is dark, dead."

"The neocortex, the you part... that doesn't come back." He explained. "They're just empty shells driven by mindless instinct." The minute he finished explanation something tore right through the brain.

"What was that?" Carol questioned

"He shot his patient in the head." Andrea's voice was almost hallow when she spoke. "Didn't you?" Dr. Jenner didn't look at them in the eye. He felt guilty. "Vi, power down the main screen and workstations."

"Powering down the main screen and work stations." The robotic voice did as ordered.

"You have no idea what this is, do you?" Andrea accused

"It could be viral, fungal, parasitic..."

"Or the wrath of God?" Jacqui interrupted

"Could be that as well." He agreed

"There are others, right? Other facilities?" Her mom questioned.

"There may be some, people like me." He wasn't certain.

"But you don't know." Her mother accused. "How can you not know?"

"Everything went down." He explained. "I've been in the dark almost a month."

"So it's not just here." Andrea remarked. "There's nothing left anywhere? That's what you're really saying?" Dr. Jenner said nothing

"Man, I'm gonna get shitfaced drunk, again." Daryl said from his spot across from the room. He sounded defeated. Hannah really wished she could go back to being deaf. She did not want to hear this anymore.

"Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate ask you anymore questions," Dale started. "but that clock, it's counting down. What happens when it reaches zero?" Hannah looked over to the big clock. There was less than an hour on it.

"The basement generators run out of fuel." He said it so quickly that even Hannah knew he wasn't telling them the whole truth. She learnt to pick up on body language cues. Dr. Jenner was avoiding looking anyone in the eye. There was something more that he wasn't telling them.

"And then?" Rick urged but Dr. Jenner simply walked off. "Vi what happens when the power runs out?"

"When the power runs out, facility wide decontamination will occur." That didn't sound good.

* * *

Daryl found himself in his room alone again. The bottle of whiskey felt heavy in his hand. After Jenner walked off, Rick, Shane, T-Dog and Glenn went to the basement to check out the generators. He was glad they didn't ask him to go. He knew shit about generators. The liquid burnt the back of his throat as he took a big sip. He couldn't help but think about Charlie. He fucked up a lot in his life but one of his greats was leaving her. It was on his top ten of fuck-ups. He got spooked and lit out. Charlie was going back to school in a few weeks. She asked if he wanted to come with her. She would've helped him get a job. They could've had a life together. Everything was moving so fast. It started as just sex and then, Daryl still didn't know how it had escalated so fast. He'd never gotten that close with anyone before, it freaked him out. He ended it. She was pregnant when he dumped her. That's why she was so quiet that night. She was probably terrified and he just left her there. Man, he was a dick.

Daryl looked down and took another swing of the bottle. He had a kid. A fucking kid. One that, had the world not ended he never would've met. A daughter. It all seemed surreal. He had meant what he said the night before, he'd never stopped thinking about Charlie. He'd tried to move on from her, but he couldn't. He considered calling her but knew it was best if he didn't. He figured she must've gotten married or something. Wound up with a guy, living in a big house, a dog, white picket fence. The whole apple pie life he knew she'd wanted. The kind of life he never could give her. To think that none of that happened kind of pissed him off. A girl like her, who wouldn't want her. _Apparently you dipshit._ Though he knew that was a lie, he wanted her. It was the whiskey talking. But she didn't. Instead she had a kid, his kid. _Hannah, her name is Hannah._ He has to keep reminding himself. He had a daughter. He left Charlie alone with his kid. Maybe it was better that way, Daryl would make a shitty dad. Regardless, the only reason he was still sticking with this group was because of them. They were family and family protects family.

He knew that he probably shouldn't, given that the kid had no idea who he was and he wasn't in her life, but he was protective over he found out the truth, he started keeping a closer eye on her but never going near her. Daryl didn't know how to deal with a disabled kid. Charlie and her would do that hand thing to talk. She had people looking after her, but the kid was in constant danger. At least Charlie wizened up and made her wear the whatever-its-called that makes Hannah hear. Can't leave that little girl defenseless. He took another drink from the bottle as the lights in his room shut off. _Fuck, that can't be good._

* * *

Charlotte and Carol shared a worried look as the air-conditioning shut off. The girls were sitting on the couch. Sophia was doing some homework while Hannah was drawing. She and Charlotte were working on her speech. Hannah did manage to get a few words out but stopped. She seemed caught off guard by the sound of her own voice. Charlotte gave her a break and she went right for the sketchpad.

"I wonder what's going on?" Carol questioned. Charlotte shrugged, not knowing what else to do. Their heads snapped towards the door at the sound of footsteps. They beckoned the girls over and walked out of the room.

"Why's the air off?" Charlotte asked when Jenner passed. "And the lights in our room?"

"What's goin' on?" Daryl asked, bottle of whiskey still in hand. Not that she was surprised.

"Energy use is being prioritized." Jenner explained and grabbed the bottle from her ex's hand.

"Air or lights aren't priorities?" Dale asked following the Doctor down the hall. The group followed suit. Where were the men that went to check out the generators? What was going on?

"It's not up to me. Zone 5 is shutting itself down." He explained

"What the hell does that mean?" Daryl demanded but the doctor just ignored him. "Hey man! I'm talkin' to you! What d'ya mean it's shuttin' itself down? How can a building do anythin'?"

"You'd be surprised." Jenner simply said. They got to the stairs that lead down to Zone 5. Glenn, Rick, T-Dog and Shane came sprinting in.

"Rick?" Lori cried out

"Jenner, what's happening?" Rick asked urgently.

"The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power." Jenner explained still walking to the computers. "It's designed to keep the computers going to the last possible second. That started as we approached the half-hour mark. Right on schedule." His voice went dangerously low on the last part. He handed the bottle back to Daryl. "It was the French."

"What?" Andrea asked

"They were the last to hold out as far as I know. While our people were bolting and committing suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the labs. Thought they were close to a solution." He spoke in the past tense. There was no cure.

"What happened?" Charlotte barely managed to get it out.

"Same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran out of juice. The world runs on fossil fuel. I mean how stupid is that?" Jenner's voice was getting more sarcastic by the second. She didn't like the sound of it.

"Hannah?" Her daughter turned towards her.

'We're getting out of here. Let's go get out stuff.' She signed. Hannah nodded, she could see the fear in her mother's eyes. She grabbed her hand and they, along with the rest of the group, started running back the way they came in. That was when an alarm started blaring. Hannah fell to her knees and clasped her hands around her ears.

"Hannah?" She didn't move. "Hannah!" She didn't move until the alarm stopped blaring.

"Get your stuff and let's go!" Shane ordered. Charlotte pulled her daughter up and they started running. That is until their way out slammed shut.

"Did you just lock us in?" Glenn accused Jenner. "He just locked us in!"

Charlotte looked up to see the clock counting down. It read _00:29:40_. They had less than half an hour to get out and he just locked them in. She looked down to find Hanna's panicked expression. Charlotte looked back up and found Daryl's eyes. She felt the tears brimming her eyes.

"It's gonna be okay." She tried to comfort. "Everythin's gonna be alright." The tremors in her voice gave her away.

"You son of a bitch!" Daryl charged towards Jenner.

"Daryl stop!" Charlotte gathered her strength and wrapped her arms around him to pull him back. "Don't, not in front of her." She whispered and he calmed down. She let him go.

"Hey, Jenner? Open that door." Rick ordered the man. Hannah came over and clung to her mother's side.

"There's no point. Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed." Jenner explained

"Well, open the damn things!" Dale demanded.

"That's not something I control. The computers do." Jenner replied. "I told you once that front door closed, it wouldn't happen again. You heard me say that." He was right. He did say that. They just didn't mean it literally. "It's better this way."

"What is?" Rick questioned but Jenner didn't answer. "What happens in 28 minutes?" He yelled.

"You know what this place is?" Jenner yelled. "We protected the world from very nasty stuff. Weaponized smallpox. Ebola strains that can wipe out half the country! Stuff that you don't want getting out. Ever!" At the end of his rant he slumped back in his chair. "In the event of power failure... in a terrorist attack, for example. HIT's are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."

"H.I.T's?" Rick asked

"Vi, define." Charlotte's heart dropped out of her chest at the next words.

_"HIT's: High-impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosives consists of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen between 5,000 degrees and 6,000 degrees and is used when the greatest loss of life and damage to structure is desired."_ As Vi explained, Charlotte pulled Hannah in closer. She felt her daughter's tears stain her shirt. She wished Hannah was deaf again.

"It sets the air on fire." Jenner's voice was hollow. "An end to sorrow, grief, regret ... Everything." Charlotte didn't cry. She couldn't summon anymore tears. It made no sense to cry now. There was no point anymore. She just smoothed Hannah's hair as her daughter cried.

She fell to her knees and pulled Hannah closer into her arms. She looked up to see Daryl at the door. He smashed the bottle of whiskey in anger.

"Open the damn door!" He yelled out. Shane bursting in and handed him an axe. They clanged against the door in the feeble attempt to break it down. All around them she could hear tears.

"You should've left well enough alone." Jenner's voice just made her angry. "It would've been so much easier."

"For who?" Charlotte snapped.

"All of you. You know what's out there... A short brutal life and an agonizing death." Jenner's voice snapped her out of her anger. She looked down at Hannah. Jenner was right. There was nothing out there. She was foolish enough to believe that there was hope here. Hope that there was a cure, that they could have a future. That Hannah would make it to her twenties and get married. Live to a ripe old age and die of natural causes surrounded by grand-children. Who knows how long they'd survive out there? Charlotte didn't want to watch Hannah get torn apart. _Lottie, don't you start thinking like that. I thought I raised you better than that._ Her mother's voice chastised. _I raised you to fight._ Maybe she didn't want to fight. She was tired of fighting. She was tired of always being scared. She'd spent the last twelve years fighting, she was done. That didn't mean Hannah wasn't. She would be fine without her mother. She had Daryl and Glenn and T-Dog. She could be fine. Just because she gave up, didn't mean Hannah had to.

**Uh-oh! Charlotte is loosing it. That finale yesterday though! I hate that we have to wait 6 months before the next season. The Daryl/Rick reunion was all I could hope for. I had to keep for squealing when Rick called him brother. I have a lot of plans for the group in the upcoming future. Again, I probably won't be update tomorrow since I have a ton of work to do. Please review!**


	13. Chapter 13

Hannah had finally stopped crying. The bangs of the axes beating on the door echoed through the room. She looked down to see her daughter staring at her.

_'I don't want to die.'_ She told her mother.

_'I know. I'm sorry.'_ She didn't say that she didn't either. Charlotte wasn't sure whether or not she did.

"Can't make a dent." Shane sounded defeated.

"Those doors are made to withstand a rocket launcher." Jenner explained

"Well, your head ain't!" Daryl charged towards him with his axe. Shane, T-Dog and Rick restrained him.

"Daryl! Stop!" Shane ordered. Daryl pushed them off and went back to the door. He started clanging on the door again. Once and a while looking over at the two.

"You do want this." Jenner directed his comment to Rick. Charlotte didn't know what it was about, and quite frankly, she didn't care. "Last night you said you knew it was a matter of time before everyone you loved was dead." Okay, she wasn't expecting that.

"What?" Lori asked in disbelief.

"You really said that? After all your big talk?" Shane accused him.

"I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?" Rick asked the group.

"There is no hope." Jenner snapped. "There never was."

"There's always hope." Rick tried to convince the doctor. "Maybe it won't be you, maybe not here, but somebody somewhere." He was actually sort of getting through to her.

"What part of 'everything is gone' do you not understand?" Andrea said from the floor.

"Listen to her, she gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event." Jenner explained. "Your daughter," he directed the comment to Charlotte. "how long do you think she'll survive the way she is?" She couldn't find the words to speak. "One tiny moment, a millisecond. No pain." Charlotte looked down. "Wouldn't it be kinder if you can just hold your loved ones until the clock ran down?" It would be. They could spend their last moments as a family and die together. It would be kinder then watching each other be slaughtered brutally. Just a second. A tiny moment and suddenly it would be over.

"No." It was Hannah speaking cutting her out of her thoughts. Charlotte looked to see the rage radiating off this tiny twelve year old girl. "You can't choose how we die." She got more courageous with each word. Her thick accent was still there. It would be gone the more they worked on her speech. Maybe Carol or Lori could do it when she was gone? Carol saw her do it today, she could figure it out. Hannah didn't need her. "I don't choose this." She wished she could be stronger for her. She really did. _You're a fighter, Lottie. You have to keep surviving._ She missed her mom more than anything. She was the only person to ever call her Lottie. She could be with her again. She just wanted to see her mom again. Maybe her sister was there too. They could be a family. They'd wait until Hannah was older and she'd be there too.

"She's right." Rick agreed with the girl. "'N I think you're lying about no hope. If that were true, You'd've bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out. But you didn't. You chose the hard path. Why?" Yes, why did he stay when death seemed so much better?

"It doesn't matter." Jenner stated

"It always matters." Rick countered. "You stayed when others ran. Why?"

"Not because I wanted to. I made a promise ... to her." He pointed to the screen where they watched TS-19's brain die. "My wife." She guessed there was some relation between them because of the way he spoke about her. His voice was much too soft to be talking about just any other patient.

"Test subject 19 was your wife?" Lori asked

"She begged me to keep going for as long as I could. She was dying, how could I say no?" There was still pounding on the door. "It should've been me on that table. I wouldn't have mattered to anybody. She, she was a loss to the world! She ran this place. I just worked here. I'm nothing compared to her. She could've done something. I can't." Jenner ranted

"Your wife didn't have a choice. You do." Rick said. "Hannah was right, you don't get to choose how we die. All we want is a choice, a chance."

"Let us keep trying for as long as we can." Lori pleaded the doctor. They could keep trying without Charlotte. They could make it. Jenner went over to the key pad and started pushing some buttons.

"I told you, everything topside's locked down. I can't open those." Then the big metal door opened.

"Come on!" Glenn urged. Charlotte looked up and saw they had just over four minutes to get out.

"Charlie! Come on!" Daryl came over and picked up Hannah. She snapped out of it. It was now or never, did she want to leave or stay? Did she want to die? Hannah looked down at her with scared eyes. Those eyes that haunted her for years. Her baby, who was her whole world. The only thing she ever did right was keeping Hannah. _You can't leave her yet. If you do, I swear on my own grave I will kick you right off my cloud._ That sounded like something her mom would tell her. _It ain't your time baby girl._ Shouldn't she choose her own time? How was that fair? Her mom decided when she was done. Maybe Charlotte was now as well. _That little girl needs you. _She would be fine without her. She could move on. _That's a lie and you know it. What kind of example are you setting for her? When things get tough, you just quit? I thought I raised you better than that. __The woman I raised, she would not just quit._ She looked back in Hannah's eyes. He mom was right of course. She couldn't die. Not here. Lori was right too, they had to keep going, keep trying for as long as they could. She would not leave her baby girl now. Not when there was so much unfinished business between them. She got up and they started running out and down the hall.

They made it to the lobby, Charlotte noticed that Dale, Andrea and Jacqui weren't there. They decided to stay. Just like she almost had. Daryl dropped Hannah on her feet and tried to break the window.

"Times almost up!" Glenn warned them.

"Daryl, look out!" T-Dog yelled as he threw a chair at the window in an attempt to break it. It didn't.

"Dog, get down!" Shane ordered as he shot the window.

'The glass won't break?' Hannah asked her mother panicked. Carol went up to Rick and handed him something. It was a grenade.

"Hannah, get down." Charlotte ordered and pulled her down behind the step. They laid flat on their stomachs. "Take it out." She commanded her daughter. She gave her a questioning look. "Take it out!" Hannah reached up and took it out of her ears. She handed it to Charlotte and stuck it in her pocket.

"Oh..." Rick said as he turned and started running towards them. Charlotte covered her ears to keep the sound from the blast from making her hurting her hearing. She felt the heat of the blast and could hear the sound of glass shattering. She pulled up her daughter and they started sprinting and hopped through the perfectly destroyed window.

Walkers were coming closer. The group, however, paid not much attention to them. Daryl cut off one's head with his axe but they made a beeline to the vehicles. Hannah and Charlotte ran until they were safely in the RV. Rick was in the drivers seat and Lori in the passenger. Carl and Hannah were at the table. Rick frantically tried to start the vehicle. Charlotte and Glenn were in between the passenger seat. Out of the corner of her eye, she was Dale and Andrea coming out of the window.

"Wait! They're coming." Charlotte pointed to them. Rick honked his horn and looked down at his watch. There were thirty seconds left.

"Dale, get down! Down!" Lori scream out of the window. They ducked behind a barrage.

"Everybody get down!" Rick ordered them. Charlotte grabbed Hannah's hand and pulled her to the ground. The blast, had they been any closer, would be deafening. She could feel the heat from the flames burn her face. She got up once the explosion stopped and opened the door, ushering Dale and Andrea in. Jacqui wasn't there. She was gone. As was Dr. Jenner. She could've been as well, if she'd stayed. She was glad that she didn't. She really was. Or at least that's what she was telling herself. She pulled her daughter into a tight hug as the they drove away from the burning building. A part of her, a larger one then she'd care to admit, was jealous of Jacqui.

**I know it's short, but I had to end it here. I hope you enjoyed it. **


	14. Chapter 14

Hannah was still shaking even the next day. She was scared of what was to come. They decided to try to make it to Fort Benning. She was bored, her books and drawing pad got left behind in the blast. Instead she sat across the table in the RV from T-Dog and they played cards. They had to ditch T's van, it made her sad since she associated his van with their safety, Shane's jeep and Daryl's truck so they could get the gas. The RV was getting more crowded. She wanted to ride with Carl and Sophia but there wasn't any room for her. Her only other option was riding on the back of Daryl's motorcycle, which he nor her mother would ever allow. She didn't mind really. She was teaching T-Dog her language. He was a fast learner. She was showing him all the sign names for the group. Out of habit she did Jacqui's too. Well, she stopped half-way through. T-Dog got a sad look in his eye when they mentioned her. Hannah always had an inkling that he had a crush on her. It hurt him that she'd chosen to quit. It was her choice and Hannah could understand that, isn't that what she'd told Jenner? That he couldn't choose the way they died? She just couldn't stand the look of absolute despair on her mother's face. She looked ready to give up. She hasn't left the back room since they drove off from the CDC. Hannah couldn't believe it. Her mom was always the strong one. No, she couldn't think like that. Her mom is strong. She'd keep fighting. She had to. Hannah didn't know what she'd do if she lost her mom. The headaches hadn't left. She was just learning to push them away. They had much more important things to worry about. She didn't want to concern them. If her mom was falling apart, then she would be the anchor. She had to be.

After a while, they decided to play some cards. She refused to play Go Fish or Crazy Eights. He said that he was going to teach her how to play Rummy. T-Dog was beating her. She didn't like it all that much, mostly because she was bad at it. Hannah hated losing. Losing felt like she was losing control. She already couldn't control so many things in her life, but needed it over what she could. Winning was one thing she could control. It was getting dark out. They spent the previous night in their vehicles. Tonight, however, would need to find somewhere to sleep. Maybe get supplies. Hannah's stomach grumbled. Food would be a bonus. She peered out the window and saw a sign that said _Welcome to Henessey_. Henessey? They couldn't be here. She looked at the sign again, pinching herself making sure it was actually there. It was real. They were home.

"Hannah?" Shane's voice, he took a spot next to T-Dog. "You good? Looks like you seen a ghost."

"I'm home." The sound of her own voice freaked her out but she was getting used to it. She hesitated between words and had a hard time articulating them but she was much further along than the first time she'd done speech therapy.

"What?" Shane questioned.

"Henessey. It's my home." She explained once more. Shane told Dale to honk the horn to stop the caravan. He ran to the back of the RV and got her mom. They spilled out of the vehicles, no walkers were around, thank goodness.

"What's goin' on?" Daryl asked halting his bike.

"We got a place to stay tonight." Shane informed them. Hannah lit up. She was going home.

"Our house ain't that big." Her mom explained, "But we there might still be some food there. I had some water stashed in the basement."

"How far from here?" Rick asked

"Down the street about a quarter mile and to the left." Her mother gave the directions.

"Charlotte, you ride up front with Daryl. We'll follow you." Rick planned. Her mom nodded and went off with Daryl. She sensed that they didn't want to wait longer than they had to outside. It was a risk because walkers could come by and bite one of them. Hannah glanced over at her mom as she hopped on the back of the bike. There had to be something between her and Daryl. She might be twelve, but she wasn't blind. Daryl had saved her life back at camp and again at the CDC. He called her mother _Charlie_, which was weird because her mom hated being called anything but Charlotte, or on occasion her Granny would call her Lottie. Never Charlie. She'd never even seen them talk before and now she was hoping on the back of his motorcycle or going with him in his truck. Something wasn't right and she would get to the bottom of it.

Hannah's heart sped in her chest as they turned down her street. The road was littered with trash and blood. Mrs. Jefferson's garden looked more like the Amazon Rainforest. Vines crawled up the side of the house and gave it a sort of creepy, haunted feeling. She was nervous about seeing her home. Would the door be open, like the Holland's house? She worried that there wouldn't be anything left. What if someone had taken all their things? Slept in their beds? Maybe she shouldn't have said anything. How could she leave her home again? She knew they would have to. It wasn't like thirteen people could fit in their tiny house and live comfortably forever. They had to keep pushing to Fort Benning. That was what Shane had said.

Her anxiety disappeared when they finally pulled up to their Victorian style home. The yellow paint was chipping off the wood panels. Although, they did that when she and her mom left to go to Atlanta. She smiled looking at the big oak tree in the front yard. She used to climb it and stay up there for hours until her mom came to get her. Her mom's ex, Derek, built her a platform. Hannah thought maybe he was going to build her a tree house but he never did. It was probably her favourite place to be. Up there, she wasn't the deaf girl, she was just Hannah Connor. It was the perfect place to draw or read. Her gaze continued over to the For Sale sign that was still standing, much to Hannah's dismay. Though it looked like it had seen better days, it was covered in grime. They were going to move to a smaller house since her mom couldn't afford this one. Hannah was furious when she came home to find the sign planted firmly in the ground. Her Granny hadn't even been gone a month and her mom was already selling her house. Hannah was just happy they were having trouble selling it. She hadn't wanted to move. She'd lived in that house for as long as she could remember. Hannah leapt out of her spot at the table and started to the door.

"Wait." Shane ordered halting the girl in her steps. Why? She was home. She could go in her room and lie on her bed. Even if it was only for one night. "We need to make sure it's safe." He explained and Hannah sighed. Of course it was safe. It had to be. Nothing could get into her home. The door was still closed. There couldn't be anything in there. Walkers didn't know how to close doors.

She was stuck in the RV with the other kids again. Andrea, Carol and Lori stayed behind to keep an eye on them while the rest went to the door. Her mother went with the men since she knew where the spare key was. This was the first time she'd seen Carl or Sophia since the day that the CDC blew up. Out of boredom, they broke out the cards once again. It seemed to be the go-to activity for the kids. They ended playing Old Maid, since none of them could bare playing another round of Go Fish. They were about halfway through the second round when Lori came and got them. The house had been cleared. Hannah lit up and took off towards her house. She watched for walkers but there were none. She was home, finally.

The group met in their quaint living room. Her Granny loved floral patterns so she had floral couches and pillows. To anyone else it might look tacky, but to Hannah, it was beautiful. Pictures of her family covered the walls. She took a seat on her Granny's favourite chair. When she was younger and her mom was working late shifts at the restaurant and couldn't bring Hannah, they used to curl up on the chair and watch TV. Sometimes, she could still smell her perfume.

"We'll organize a watch schedule. Charlotte is looking through the cupboards now with Glenn for anything we can eat. We were lucky, seems like no one has been here yet." Rick informed them. "Hannah, how many rooms are there?" He asked, she held up four fingers. There was her room, her mom's, her Granny's and the guest room. "Okay, we'll divide sleeping arrangements later." With that, the brief meeting ended. Hannah grinned and took off like a speeding bullet to her room.

It was just as she'd left it. A little messy. There were some clothes on the ground in a pile on the ground, she'd left her hamper in the laundry room. She touched the books on her bookshelf and grabbed the stuffed monkey on her bed. She'd stopped sleeping with it but it reminded her of her life before all of this. She smiled looking at the posters on her green walls. Most of them were of Harry Potter. She had a few paintings that her Granny made her hung up in the room. She and her grandmother shared a passion for art. Her mom always joked that the talent must've skipped a generation since she could barely draw stick men. She collapsed on her bed and let out a relieved sigh. She never thought she'd come home again.

"So this is your room?" She jumped a little at the sound of Carl's voice. Hannah sat up and saw him standing there. She smiled and nodded. She liked the sound of Carl's voice. It was friendly and innocent. It suited him.

_'Where's Sophia?'_ She signed. Carl hesitated for a moment.

"Is that 'where'?" He asked and Hannah nodded. "Sophia's downstairs with her mom."

_'O.K.'_

"Why don't you talk? You did it at the CDC. You did it more when you couldn't hear." Carl wondered, Hannah hesitated and started picking at her nails. It took her a few minutes to gather up the strength to speak.

"It's hard." She told him. "Hearing the s-sound of my voice." It was easier than when she first started therapy back when she was kid, she could articulate better, which made it easier to mimic words people were saying, but it still felt weird. Her voice was so different from everyone else's.

"Oh." Was all Carl could say. "Sorry."

_'It's O.K. I understand.'_ She did it slowly so that he could get it. Carl was a fast learner. She smiled at him. Carl was a good friend. There was a knock at the door. The brand new noise caught Hannah off guard. She looked up to see Lori standing there.

"Your mom asked if you could go up to the attic to grab the extra blankets." They kept most things in the attic. Hannah nodded and got up from her bed. "Carl, why don't you help her out." Lori suggested, the boy nodded, got up and followed her out of the room.

* * *

It felt weird being home. Charlotte thought that she had to be dreaming. There was no way she would be standing in her kitchen gathering up all her canned food. It was remarkable. The house was completely untouched. There were still some dishes in the sink from the morning they left for the hospital. She'd washed them and left them to dry on a rack while they were gone. There was still a pile of dirty clothes in the laundry room that she would've done had they come home. She'd grown up in this house. She smiled when she saw the marks on the kitchen doorframe. Her dad used to measure hers and her younger sister's growth. Her heart felt heavy over the painful nostalgia. She hadn't seen Willow in so long. After their dad died, she dropped out of school and joined the army. Charlotte had missed her sister terribly but she rarely called or wrote. She could be dead and Charlotte would never know. Hannah knew she had an aunt but she'd only met her a few times when Willow was on leave. They'd lost contact completely when Hannah was eight because she moved to Nashville to "clear her head". They tried writing and calling but after a few months, it seemed like Willow dropped off the face of the earth. The first and last time she'd seen her sister in over four years was when she showed up to their mother's funeral. Charlotte pretended she wasn't there. She disappeared again after. Though now she wish she would've behaved differently. Charlotte was mad at her sister but she still hoped Will was alive somewhere, even if she knew that to hope was to be disappointed.

"So, this is where ya grew up?" She was caught off guard by the sound of Daryl's voice. Another thing she never expected to happen, Daryl Dixon standing in her kitchen.

"Jesus, you scared me." She clutched the locket around her neck to calm herself down.

"Sorry." He apologized

"Yeah, lived here my whole life. Apart from the years I was in Athens and Atlanta. Moved back here so my mom could help me with Hannah." She explained, Daryl shifted guiltily at the last part. "Wasn't a bad life, Hannah loves it here." Daryl still said nothing. An idea came to mind. "Come with me. I gotta show ya somethin'." She led him out of the room and down the hall. Occasionally she would look around, making sure that no one saw them. Living in this group sometimes felt like living in a glass room. Everyone could see everything. There was no privacy here. Charlotte was surprised she'd kept Hannah's lineage a secret for so long. Well, more or less secret. Lori knew, but other than her, no one did.

Daryl followed her closely until they reached her room. He hesitated at the threshold. Charlotte smirked.

"Not gonna screw ya." She reassured. "I just wanted to show ya something. Come in." Cautiously, he entered the room. She must've gone crazy. What was she thinking? Bringing Daryl into her room. It was official, she lost it. She had to be insane. It was the only viable explanation.

"What d'ya wanna show me?" Daryl asked as he walked in the room. Charlotte grinned and shut the door behind him. Her room was simple, the walls were a dark auburn. She had a large mahogany dresser in the back corner. She'd had the same one since she was a kid. It was pathetic, really. She'd lived in the same house, same room for her whole life. When she was in high school, all she wanted to do was get away. But then her dad died, and Willow left. It didn't feel right to leave. Her mom had to practically force her out the door when it came time to go to back to university. She'd tried living on her own and she liked it, but after what happened, she knew she needed help.

Charlotte dug through her closet and pulled out the photo album. It was the only one she had of them. It was heavy and thick. She carried it across the room and handed it to Daryl.

"Thought ya might wanna see what she looked like as a baby." She explained as he took the book from her hands. "Have a look." She sat down on the bed next to him and opened the book. He looked hesitant browsing through it. There were pictures of her with food smeared all over her face. Her hair in a little pig tail on the top of her hair as she played in the fall leaves.

"She's cute." Daryl acknowledged looking at a particular picture of Hannah and Charlotte leaning on a fence with cows in the background, it was late autumn when the picture was taken so they were both wearing plaid fleece sweaters, jeans and rain boots. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail. Hannah was about eight in this picture. At the time, Charlotte was working as a farm hand on the weekends. She used to bring Hannah on occasion. She loved the cows.

"Keep it." Charlotte took the picture out of the album. Daryl grabbed it, folded it and stuck it in his pocket. She smiled at him. He leaned in, almost like he was going to kiss her. She felt the butterflies flutter in her stomach. Almost like old times. She felt like she was twenty-four again.

At the thought, she froze and turned away. There was no way this could happen. She didn't want this. The only reason Daryl was back in her life was because of Hannah. That's it, nothing more. Charlotte got up and walked out of the room. She couldn't do this again.

* * *

Their attic was just as dusty as it was when they left. Boxes were piled up to the roof. They brought flashlights up since there was little sun left. Hannah really did miss power. She tapped her friend on the shoulder, he was distracted by some fur coats on a mannequin. Her Granny had a lot of weird stuff. She liked to keep things from her past. Hannah had come up to explore a few times and found an ancient record player. Going up there was like time traveling. She gestured for him to follow her over to the shelves on the right side. She grabbed the chair and boosted herself up. She grabbed the box on top and handed it down to Carl. She reached and pulled out the wool blankets. It was getting cooler at nights now. Hannah guessed it was autumn.

"Hannah! Look in the box." Carl sounded in awe. Hannah sighed and dropped the blankets on the ground. She went over to see her friend digging through the box. He pulled out a beat up black leather jacket. She was surprised that she'd never seen it before. "Whoa, this is so cool!" That was when she looked in the box.

Inside, there was a stack of letters and one of the holders you might get when you go get your pictures developed. She reached and pulled out the pictures. Her jaw dropped at the very first one. It was her mom, she looked so much younger and carefree. She was smiling, wearing a plaid long sleeved shirt and jeans being lifted by a man. The man was wearing jeans and a brown button-up shirt with the sleeves ripped off.

"Is that Daryl?" Carl wondered looking at the other pictures. No, it couldn't be. Her mom would've told her if they knew each other. She wouldn't have treated him like he was invisible. No, the man in this picture was smiling, happy. Daryl Dixon was incapable of looking like that. She put the pictures down and grabbed one of the letters. It was in a sealed envelop with no stamps. It read an address and the name. It was addressed to Daryl. Okay, so her mom knew him. She tore open the envelop and started reading. A picture of her as a baby fell out of the letter.

_'Daryl,_

_I know it's been a long time since we've spoken. I don't even know if you even remember me. Hell, I don't even know if this is still your address. I know I should've told you this earlier, a lot earlier but you have a daughter. Her name is Hannah, she's almost six months old now. She's absolutely perfect. She has your eyes and your nose. I thought you might want to know. We didn't end on the best of terms, quite frankly I don't even know why I'm writing to you but I thought you'd might like to someday meet her. Daryl, she's so smart. She's six months old and she's already been crawling for a few weeks now. I know you said that we should stay away from each other but I just thought you might want to meet her._

_If you want to, you can write back._

_Charlotte Connor.'_

Hannah lowered the letter, her jaw was dropped. Her dad wasn't dead. He'd been here this whole time. She couldn't believe it, yet the evidence was being thrown in her face. Daryl Dixon was her father.

**Finally she knows! So we are coming to the end of part 1 of the story, would you guys like me to put part 2 attached to this story or make a separate one? Thank you to all those who have reviewed/followed/favourite this story. You guys are beautiful. **


	15. Chapter 15

No, it couldn't be possible. Daryl Dixon couldn't him. He couldn't be her father. No, it's not possible. It couldn't have been Daryl, the man who's voice scared her. No, her dad had to be dead. He couldn't have been here all this time and she didn't know. She didn't know because her mom didn't tell her.

"Daryl's your dad?" Carl's voice sounded so distant. How could she have kept this from her? Hannah just felt numb. It was shock. That's what she was feeling. Shock, like sticking her finger in a socket. Or like finding out your father has been alive this whole time and has been with your group. "Hannah, we should go back downstairs." Carl grabbed the blankets and took her arm. She was still gripping the letter. "We have to get back." Hannah grabbed the pictures and the letters from the box and got up. She had a dad all this time but she didn't even know. Her mom knew, her mom knew and kept it from her. There was no way she was letting this go.

* * *

The smell of canned beans never smelt so good. They didn't have very much in the line of canned food but it was enough to feed them for the night. Glenn had found their gas grill used for camping with a full can of propane. They'd arranged that those who would have watch shifts overnight would sleep in the family room. There were blankets and mattresses strewn across the floor. Her mom would probably have a heart attack if she saw the mess. The others would get the rooms. For now, they were gathered in the dining hall about to have dinner. Daryl went to take watch outside. She would have to go pack some of their clothes and belongings before leaving. They would finally have more than just a tiny navy blue backpack, they didn't even have that anymore. She was sitting at the table, joking around with Glenn. She pushed back what happened upstairs. They couldn't get back together. She wouldn't let that happen.

"No way." She stated when Glenn told her about the time when he was delivering pizza to this house when the man came to the door wearing a leather sub mask wearing a leather man thong. He claimed he could one up her story from the CDC. She was amazed he even remembered it.

"Yeah, one hundred percent true." Glenn continued. "He had to unzip his mouth to tell me how much change he wanted back. He was a shitty tipper too."

"Oh man, that is disturbin'." She laughed and turned to see Hannah standing in the doorway. "Hey sweetheart, what'cha doin' there?" Her daughter's nostrils flared and she threw a stack of pictures and envelops on the table. Charlotte felt her blood go cold. She didn't even have to look to know what they were.

_'Why didn't you tell me?'_ Hannah's eyes were lit with anger. Glenn looked over at them curiously and grabbed one of the pictures.

"Holy shit." Glenn breathed.

_'Answer me!'_ Hannah urged. Charlotte didn't know what to say. She didn't want her finding out this way.

"I was protectin' you." She finally mustered after a few beats.

_'You kept him from me. Told me not to go near him. You knew that I wanted to meet my dad. How could you keep this from me?'_

_'I was doing what was best for you.'_ Why couldn't she understand that? Everything Charlotte ever did was for Hannah. She was still alive now because of her. Had it not been for her, Charlotte would've stayed at the CDC.

_'You lied! I deserved to know the truth. That was not your call to make. He is MY dad!'_

_'You don't even know him.'_

_'Because YOU kept him from me!'_

_'I was going to tell you. I was just waiting for the right time.'_ She was going to tell her. She really was.

_'When? After he was dead? Or when you are about to? Oh wait! That happened and you still never told me.'_ She'd let Hannah down.

_'I'm sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing for you.'_

_'No. No more. No more lies. I'm done.'_ With that Hannah walked out of the room. Charlotte sat back in shock. Everything just sort of fell out. Hannah was right. She should've told her a long time ago.

"Charlotte?" Glenn's voice pulled her back. "You okay?"

"No," Her voice cracked. "I'm not."

* * *

After leaving her mom in the dust, Hannah ran up to her room and shut the door. She collapsed on the bed and let angry tears flow down her face. She grabbed her old sketchbook from when she was young. On the second page she drew a picture of a superhero. It was called 'My Dad'. The picture was done in crayons and was absolute crap, but for the longest time, this was how she imagined him to be. Although he didn't have one massive hand in her imagination like he did in the picture, but regardless. She ripped the picture out, crumpled it and tossed it at the door. That was when Dale walked in.

"Hey kid, you okay?" She gave him an obvious look. "I guess that would be a no." He bent down to pick up the crumpled picture. He smoothed it out and looked at it. "Not bad." Dale complimented, Hannah scoffed.

"It's bad." She told him. "I did that when I was six." She picked up her most recent sketchbook and showed it to him.

"Wow, these are incredible." She smiled at the compliment. The one he was looking at was a sketch of a gloved hand holding a man's hand.

_'Thank you.'_

"I can't say I know what you're feeling right now because I've never had my dad hidden from me and then revealed." Hannah almost laughed at the comment. It all seemed so ridiculous. "But, if you want to talk, you can. Even just to vent."

"What about the language barrier?" She wondered since she couldn't speak for long and he didn't know how to sign.

"I know a bit. I can keep up. Besides, it'll help just to get it out in the open." Dale reasoned but Hannah hesitated. "By the looks of this," he pointed to the crumpled up picture. "you always wanted to meet your dad. Shouldn't you be happy?" Hannah bit the inside of her cheek and looked down.

_'Yes, I did. I always did.'_ She made sure the signing was slow enough so he could keep up. _'I just thought he would be different. When I was little, I imagined he was this superhero or a spy that left because he wanted to keep us safe. Made it easier. Now that I know ... he left because he wanted to. I wanted my dad to be a good man, a hero, like Rick. I thought when I met him, I would know right away. Why did she keep this from me? They both did. I just don't understand. I had a right to know. Why didn't find me?'_ By the end she was sobbing. Dale wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in. She knew that he didn't understand her but it did feel good. She didn't forgive her mom, maybe she never would but it felt good to talk.

Dale left soon after, he figured Hannah would need time to mull over the information. She was angry that her mom kept this from her. She was angry at Daryl - her dad, she still couldn't wrap her head around it. She hated the damn CI that made everything ring in her ears. Her head for feeling like it's about to split in two. She was mad at the world for ending. Pissed off at Dr. Jenner for taking away their hope. She was furious with everything. It was bad enough the dead started walking but she found out her dad wasn't a superhero at all. He was nothing but a deadbeat. She was nothing special. Hannah looked over to see Harry Potter looking at her, mocking her.

_Not everyone can have some great destiny where they save the world. Not everyones parents can be heroes._ He was still looking at her. _Shut up!_ She wanted to yell at the poster but nothing came out. Instead, she walked over and ripped it off her wall. _Shut up you stupid arrogant bastard! You didn't even care enough to look for me!_ She crumpled it up and threw it across the room. She sank to the ground with her knees hugged to her chest. Everything she knew was a lie.

* * *

Charlotte couldn't sleep at all. She tossed and turned on a mattress in the family room. T-Dog snored, Glenn mumbled in his sleep. Shane managed to get the couch. Rick, Lori and Carl slept in her old room. Carol, Sophia and Andrea in her mother's room and Dale got the spare, or Willow's room. Hannah didn't leave her room last night. Dale said that she was angry about the whole thing and needed space. Charlotte pressed him for information but didn't get any. He said that he didn't even get half the things she said but her gathered that she shouldn't be disturbed. Lori sat with her until they went to bed. Now everyone knew about her. She knew that coming back here was a bad idea.

Charlotte was unable to stay lying down anymore. She got off the mattress and walked outside. Rick was on watch now. She needed air. The house was becoming claustrophobic. Rick looked over to her, he was leaning on the porch. The same place where she had her first kiss when she was sixteen. Tommy Miller, that was his name. He was nervous and fidgety. She thought he was sweet. He'd taken her to the drive-in theatre, didn't make any move until he brought her back to her door. Willow, who was eleven at the time, teased her for days. She had been watching them from the same tree Hannah liked to play in. She couldn't help but see her younger sister in her daughter.

"What're you doing out here?" Rick asked

"Needed some air." She explained leaning on the railing. "No walkers in sight?"

"Nope." Rick stated. "So, you and Daryl?"

"It was a long time ago." She sighed. "Ancient history."

"It can't really be can it?" He teased, Charlotte let out a dry laugh. "Not with Hannah around."

"No, I suppose not."

"Why didn't you tell her? If you don't mind me asking." This seemed to be the most common question. No one, except Daryl, asked why didn't she tell him. Maybe they all just thought he knew.

"I dunno. I was tryin' to protect her I guess. Daryl and I ... it's complicated." She chickened out of telling him the story. "I got hurt 'n I guess I didn't want her gettin' hurt too."

"Your motives may have been good, but it wasn't the best choice. Not now." Rick lectured

"I know that. I should've told her ages ago. I wanted to. I really did but it hurt to even think about it." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "She hates me."

"She'll get over it." Rick assured. "She's twelve. Carl got mad at me once because I missed one of his Little League games. Said he'd never talk to me again. It lasted a grand total of five minutes. Kids get angry and then they forget."

"This ain't about some Little League game, Rick. I kept her father a secret. Kept him from her for a month." She countered. "She ain't just gonna forgive me."

"She will, trust me. Might not be tomorrow but it'll come. You told me once to give Andrea time. Now I'm tellin' you the same thing. Let Hannah come to you first. She's a smart kid. She's just angry."

"Thanks Officer Do-Right." She joked.

"So, what did you do before all of this?" Rick asked. There was something about him that she could trust.

"Before Hannah was born or after?" She questioned

"Both."

"Before, I was a student. I was trainin' to be a doctor. Almost made it too but I had to quit 'fore my residency was up. It just never worked out. Hannah was about three when we left Atlanta. It just got too hard bein' on my own. We moved back here and I mostly worked odd jobs to make ends meat, I was a waitress at the diner, a maid at the motel, and a farm hand durin' summer." Rick was caught off guard by the number of jobs she had to keep. She had to sacrifice a lot for her daughter. "I knew how to keep busy that's for sure." He cracked a smile at her joke. "My mom had money some money put away but we could only access it when she died, the only thing she had really was this house. She passed away a six months ago, cancer. Had to go through a lot of paper work to get it. First thing I did with the money was get Hannah that implant. It was my plan ever since she went deaf." Charlotte couldn't believe how easy it was to tell her life story to Rick. She just trusted him. While he did get them in the mess at the CDC, he still managed to talk Jenner into letting them go. He was a good man.

"She wasn't born like that?" He asked

"No." She didn't want to go into more detail about what happened. She still felt so guilty about it. Charlotte lived in guilt. She didn't remember a day when she didn't feel guilty about something. She could feel his questioning gaze on him. "What did you want to be when you were a kid? And don't say something practical like a police officer. I'm talkin' 'bout the dream job." She hoped that Rick would pick up on her cue that she was not going to tell him what happened nine years ago.

"Is this twenty questions now?" Rick asked

"I figured since I ain't goin' to sleep any time soon 'n your on watch. Might as well keep each other entertained." Charlotte reasoned

"Fine." He hesitated before he answered her first question. "I always wanted to be an astronaut." Charlotte suppressed a giggle. It was such a typical guy answer. "That is til the carnival came when I was nine and I went on the space invasion. It was a spinning ride and hurled into the garbage can. Changed my mind after that." She let out a quiet laugh, careful not to let any walkers around know they were out there. "What about you?"

"I was gonna be an Olympic athlete. Not sure for what event." Charlotte explained. "Until I realized how terribly uncoordinated I am."

"Kids dream big." Rick stated. She frowned at the comment.

"Yeah, they do. Not in this world though." She said grimly. "Dreamin' big would be havin' food everyday, or not sleepin' with one eye open, or just bein' safe."

"We'll find that place." Rick assured

"D'you really believe that? We thought the quarry was safe, or the CDC. Where is safe in this world Rick?"

"I dunno, but we'll get there. There has to be somewhere. There just has to."

"What makes ya so sure?"

"I have hope." Rick's words hung in the air. Hope, the four letter word that weighed heavily. It was what kept people going, even before everything went to shit. Charlotte had hope once. She had hope that everything would get better eventually, that they could go back to their normal lives. She was so naive. No more though. The only reason she was still even alive was because of Hannah. Charlotte was hollow inside, completely empty. She was walking and breathing but she was dead inside. She was a living walker. Her reasons to live was slipping further away and there was nothing she could do.

* * *

_The next morning:_

Hannah couldn't remember falling asleep. It must have gotten pretty late. She remembered taking out the CI and sinking back into her comfortable silence on the wall. She didn't remember going to bed. Who could've put her there? She shrugged it off and put the CI back in her ear. If there was one thing her mom was right about, it was a death sentence if she didn't wear this freaking thing. She couldn't get used to headaches if she was dead. _Might as well pack what I need._ It hurt that they couldn't stay here longer. All she wanted was for life to go back to the way it was before, where she lived in blissful ignorance of everything around her. Where she didn't know that her father was just a redneck. She'd even go to school, suffer through the hours of boredom and teasing if it meant that the dead didn't roam around anymore.

She grabbed a duffle bag out of her closet and threw in some clothes, she packed the bare essentials. Her hand rested on the few sundresses her Granny made her. She didn't take them. They were impractical for this. She'd only worn them a few times. She hated wearing dresses but her Granny still made her. She grabbed her schoolbag from the corner of the room. She still had her homework from the Wednesday before they went to Atlanta. Hannah was going to do it when she got back. It was grammar for English class. She tossed the contents on her dresser and put her sketchbook in the bag as well as a few books from her shelf. She changed into her worn dark red t-shirt with the Atlanta Braves logo in blue. She was a little more developed then some girls her age, namely Sophia. She was turning thirteen soon, it was normal to look this way now. She looked around her room, just in case there was something she missed when someone knocked at the door.

"Hannah? It's Sophia and Carl. Can we come in?" Sophia's soft voice asked. Hannah went over to the door and opened it to find both her friends standing there. Sophia was gripping Eliza's doll, Hannah thought she was too old to have dolls but whatever helped Sophia cope with it all. Carl was holding a bowl of leftover beans for her.

"We thought you might be hungry since you didn't eat last night." Carl held out the bowl that Hannah greedily snatched from his hands.

_'Thank you.'_ She signed with her free hand before taking a bite of the cold beans. She was so hungry that she didn't even care.

"Your room looks awesome." Sophia commented. Hannah smiled at her. She was still wearing the crusted pink shirt she'd been wearing since the CDC. Hannah looked down at her own fresh shirt. Though Sophia was taller than her, she guessed they were about the same size.

_'You can take clothes is you want.'_ She made sure to go slow for Sophia. The girl nodded enthusiastically and went to look through the drawers. She pulled out one of the shirts her Granny got her. It was bright blue with a rainbow on it. Hannah didn't like dressing like a girl, she liked her jeans and t-shirts. That was something her grandmother never seemed to understand. Even her mother was a girly-girl. She used to say that Hannah was a lot like her Aunt Willow. She used to be very close to her aunt until she left and went to Nashville. She was happy to see her at her Granny's funeral, even though her mom told her to stay away.

Her mom, always telling people to stay away. Oh, she'll say it's for her own good but Hannah knew she wasn't telling the whole truth. She knew that for her aunt, her mom was just angry because she left. She had no idea why her mother kept Daryl away, but it didn't matter. Her mother still kept her dad away from her. Did he know about her? He had to. It made sense, he was acting really strange towards her. The way he looked at her sometimes. Her mom had been acting weird for the past few days. She was so incredibly thick. How could she have not seen it? It was right in front of her this whole time. She always assumed that once she'd find her dad, she'd know who he was right away. She didn't even know his name really until a few days ago when he pulled her away from that walker. Hannah had never even spoken to him before. How could she have kept him from her? Didn't she deserve to know who he was? Her mom always talked a big game about how family was the most important thing in the world, yet she cut her sister out of her life and kept her dad away from Hannah. She was a hypocrite.

"Thanks for the shirt." Sophia's high voice pulled her out of her thoughts. Hannah gave her a smile. It was a bit small on the girl so Hannah tossed her a tank top.

There was another knock at the door. Lori poked her head into the room.

"We're getting ready to head out." Lori informed them. Carl and Sophia followed her out of Hannah's room.

"Are you coming?" Carl asked Hannah standing in the threshold. She felt teary eyed as she looked around her bedroom. She had so many memories here. It was the only place she knew for certain. She'd spent her whole life here. At least the years she remembered. She had brief flashes of her life in Atlanta but her home was here. She'd scraped her knees while playing in the driveway, or would paint with her Granny on the porch. How could she just up and leave? _Home isn't a place, baby girl. Home is who you're with._ It was something her Granny always told her. The world she knew was dead. She didn't have a home anymore. This place was empty. It was a grime reminder of what could have been and what was. If the world would've been different, if Daryl had been around her whole life, they could've been happy here. They could've been a family. Sadly, that was never going to happen. The world was over and her family was broken. It was time to move on from this place. Her Granny was right, home wasn't always a place. Home was the people she was with, it was Carl, Glenn, T-Dog, Sophia, everyone in their group. She realized something looking around the room, this wasn't her anymore. This little girl who dreamed of adventures, she was gone. Her mom was right about one thing, no more kids stuff. That kid who spent more time living in a place that would never exist, she had to grow up. Hannah gave one final look over her room, grabbed her bag and walked away from the past.

**So we've come to the end of Part 1. I've decided to keep the next part of the story in the same thread. Part 3 (aka season 3) will be it's own story (seeing as what I have planned for the end of season 2). I hope you all enjoyed this part. Thanks to everyone who reviewed.**


	16. Chapter 16

*****PART 2*****

Charlotte was sinking. They were back on the road now. Hannah still refused to even acknowledge her existence. It pained her to see her daughter just completely brush her off. Hannah just went to the back room. T-Dog said he'd watch over her. Charlotte was sitting at the table next to Andrea and across from Shane. He had the guns out cleaning them. She was staring out the window. Daryl's bike soared past them. Cars were overturned in ditches. She was surprised that they didn't pass any walkers. They seemed to be everywhere these days. Charlotte wondered whether or not there were other people. Maybe everyone was dead and they were the only ones left. What was the point if they were the only ones?

"Looks complicated." Andrea's voice pulled her out of her morbid thoughts. She watched as Shane disassembled one of the pistols. She thought about Monroe's gun that was now sitting in the bag. Last night they'd put all the guns in Rick's gun bag. It was probably better away from her. The way she was feeling now, who knows what she'd do.

"I could clean yours, show you how." Shane suggested to Andrea. "You too Charlotte."

"You already got the gun, Shane." She reminded him

"Right. I do." He said. "Nice piece too."

"It's not mine." She explained. "A cop gave it to me in Atlanta."

"My dad gave me mine." Andrea spoke up. Charlotte was thankful that the attention had shifted from her to the other woman.

"That so?" Shane asked

"Yeah, just before Amy and I went on our road trip. He said that two girls on their own should be able to defend themselves."

"Smart man." Shane pointed out.

"Yeah, he was." Andrea said affectionately. The RV slowed down. Charlotte slid out of the bench and stood in between the two seats. All around her cars littered the road. She could see corpses decomposing. They must've been there since the beginning. They made her nervous. She glanced nervously incase there was a stray walker.

"Dammit." Dale cursed, Charlotte looked to the front to see cars blocking the road. "See a way through?" Dale asked Daryl, who's bike was pulled right next to the vehicle.

"Maybe we should turn back." Charlotte suggested

"Yeah, there's an interstate bypass..." Glenn agreed but Dale cut him off.

"We can't spare the fuel." Gas, that's what it came down to. The world runs on fossil fuel. How stupid is that? That was what Jenner had said. He was right, this whole gas thing was annoying. Eventually they would run out. That was when the engine sputtered and died.

Dale was cursing the vehicle as he went to the smoking front of the RV. The group emptied out of the vehicles. Charlotte looked over to see Hannah standing next to T-Dog and Glenn. She still refused to make eye contact with her. She tried not to let it show how sad it made her. Shane came out as Dale was still cursing the engine.

"Problem, Dale?" Shane questioned

"Just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope..." He drifted off upon seeing Daryl reach in the trunk of an open vehicle. "Okay, that was dumb."

"If you can't find a radiator hose here..." Shane pointed out

"There's a whole bunch o' stuff we can find." Daryl stated pulling out a granola bar from the back of the car.

"Siphon more fuel from these cars for a start." T-Dog suggested.

"Maybe some water." Carol hoped

"Or food." This time Charlotte spoke up. Those canned beans they'd had the previous night were not holding her off.

"This is a grave yard." Lori's comment stopped everyone. "I don't know how I feel about this." This is what they'd sunk to. They were scavengers picking at other peoples graves. This was how they would survive now. Charlotte didn't want to survive like that, but she knew they had no choice. With no water, they'd be dead in a matter of days. No fuel, probably even sooner.

She watched as Hannah went over with the kids and the other mothers. Lori gave her a look meaning that she'd watch over her. She wanted to go with them but knew better. Hannah didn't want her there. She'd made it perfectly clear and Charlotte couldn't blame her. She screwed up and this was her punishment. Rick had told her to give Hannah some time. The problem Charlotte saw was that there was no time in this world. She didn't know how long she'd still be in it.

"Charlotte, you good?" Shane's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah." She lied. She was not okay, not by a mile.

"Why don't you come with me 'n Glenn?" Shane suggested. Charlotte nodded and walked over to two big trucks a little further down the ways.

* * *

Hannah was scavenging with Carl, Sophia, Carol and Lori. The smell of the rotting bodies made her gag. The mothers were trying to keep them away from the death, telling them not to look. That's what parents always said, don't look, cover your ears. They always think they're doing what's best for their kids. Well, they're wrong. They don't always know what's best.

"Hannah," Carl's voice pulled her out of her angry thoughts. "we were talking in the car about going to the Grand Canyon someday. My parents said that you can come with us." Hannah smiled at the thought. She'd always wanted to see the Grand Canyon. A vacation would be so nice. They could go to a place and escape from all this.

"Hey, Carl, Hannah. Always stay within my sight. Okay?" Lori ordered, the two kids nodded. Looks like Hannah still had a babysitter.

"You too, Sophia." The tall girl next to Hannah nodded.

The three went poking around cars, always staying close to both Lori and Carol. So far Hannah hadn't found much. A few empty bottles and food wrappers. They'd been going at it for what felt like forever. Everything was going fine, she was even growing used to the smell. Was that wrong? The sent of rotting corpses was not one she should be used to. She shuddered at the memory of the walkers invading camp. The smell, oh god the smell. It stung her nose even now.

"Carl, Sophia, Hannah, get down now." Rick's whispering commanding voice caught her off guard. "Hannah, get down." He repeated, she felt Sophia pull her down and they hid under a car.

Her eyes widened when she heard the groans. She covered her mouth to keep from whimpering. Sophia was shaking, trying to keep her breathing at bay. This was the first time she'd ever heard them. Terror seized her body as the sound of shuffling footsteps and hungry moans filled her ears. She wished she could just take the CI out. All she wanted was to be deaf again. She knew that if she did, she might be signing her own death warrant. The temptation was still there. She looked across the way at Carl, who's expression mirrored hers. There had to be at least two hundred walkers wandering. She hadn't seen this many since camp. The shuffling of footsteps seemed to get further away. They'd made it. She looked over to Sophia and grinned. They were still alive. Hannah looked over and Rick gave a curt nod. Sophia started cautiously crawling out from under the vehicle. Hannah wanted to stop her, a grown up should go first. Sophia girl let out a yelp and she panicked. She heard the groan come closer. It had seen her. Hannah was thrown face to face with a walker. If only she had a knife or something but she was completely unarmed. Sophia pushed and they both crawled out only to find another walker on the other side. Sophia let out a scared sob. Hannah's heart pounded in her chest as the two slid under the railing and took off into the woods.

* * *

Charlotte felt her heart pounding as the herd of walkers passed by. Glenn had her pressed against him. She held her breath in hopes to keep the smell away. Hannah, where was Hannah? She needed to find her daughter. They waited a few minutes after the last walker sauntered by.

"Let's go." Shane whispered as the three crawled out from under the truck. Shane's shirt was still soaked from the water he'd found just a short time ago. They made their way back over to the rest of the group.

"Oh, Lori. There are two walkers after my baby!" Carol sobbed in the woman's arms.

"Keep her back!" Lori ordered Shane and Glenn upon seeing Charlotte. She looked around and saw Carl, Dale, Andrea and the two women. Her heart stopped when she didn't see Hannah.

"Where is she?" Charlotte demanded going towards Lori.

"I said keep her back!" Lori ordered once more as Shane looped his arms around her waist. Her mouth felt dry.

"Lori, where the hell is my daughter?" Charlotte growled, terrified of the answer.

"She and Sophia got spotted and ran." She took in a sharp breath, feeling her insides start to freeze. "Rick went after them. They'll be just fine." Lori reassured but Charlotte didn't feel any better.

"No! I have to find her." She struggled against Shane's grasp. Glenn held her arms down so she wouldn't get free. "Let me go!" She begged. "I gotta go find her! Let me go!" She had to go. This was her little girl. The only reason she was alive. She had to find Hannah. She should've never let her out of her sight. She shouldn't have cared about space. This never would've happened if she had been a better mother.

"Charlie! Need yer help here." Daryl's voice fell on deaf ears. She couldn't even breath. Hannah was gone.

"Not a good time Daryl." Glenn told him. They kept talking around her. She couldn't hear anything. Her baby, out in the woods with walkers.

"She's gone." Charlotte mumbled.

"Let her go." Daryl told Shane. She felt his hands release from around her waist. She collapsed to the ground. "What happened?"

"Walkers, she and Sophia got spotted and ran into the woods. Rick's gone after them. He'll find them." Lori explained.

"He'll find her." Daryl assured. "If he don't, I will." Until Hannah was safe, Charlotte was not reassured.

* * *

Her breath was ragged as her feet pounded on the ground. She couldn't hear the growls anymore. She stopped a bit to catch her breath. She was alone. Sophia was nowhere to be found. She was lost. Hannah ran blindly through the woods and now she was lost. She looked around frantically for any sign of her friend or the road. She heard a rustling in the woods and started running again. She was so stupid. So incredibly stupid. She should've told Sophia to stay under the car. Now she was never going to see her mom again. Her mom was going to think she died hating her. She didn't, she loved her mom. She was angry but she wasn't anymore. She kept sprinting, maybe she'd find her way back to her family.

Hannah kept running, pushing away the pain coming from her side. It was a cramp. She kept going until a root seemed to reach up and catch her foot, sending her flying forward. The breath was sucked out of her lungs. She shielded her ears to keep her implant from falling out. Her elbows and knees were sore from the impact. She looked to find her elbow dripping with blood. That was when she heard the growl coming from above her. She looked up and bit back a scream. Dangling above her was a walker. She crawled back and got a better view. It used to be a man. He was hanging from the tree, most of the flesh on its legs were gone. It was reaching out and snapping at her. Her heart kept pounding. She stood up and took a step towards it. There was a little piece of paper nailed to the tree. It read: _Got bit. Fever hit. World went to shit. Might as well quit._ This one quit. He opted out. That was what Dr. Jenner called it. Hannah felt tears fill her eyes. She was very lost and terrified.

She wiped away the tears that had started to fall. _Mommy? Where are you?_ She was stuck in the middle of the woods, with walkers all around. She wanted to see Carl, Sophia, Glenn and T-Dog. She wanted her mom. _Well, she ain't here, none of 'em are. You gotta think for yourself. You gotta get yourself back._ Oddly enough, it was Daryl's voice she was hearing in her head. He was telling her she had to survive. She was alone but she could do it. She had to. No one was coming to help her. She looked behind her and saw a tent. Maybe there was something she could use in there. Cautiously, she opened the door and peaked in, thankfully there were no others inside. She looked around and found a knife. Perfect. It was a large hunting knife. She'd seen Daryl with one similar to this back at the quarry when she, Carl, and Sophia would watch him clean squirrels for dinner. At least she had some protection from the walkers. She kept the knife close as she running again. Only this time, she ran back the way she came. If there was any hope of finding her mom again, that would be the way.

* * *

He nearly had a heart attack when Rick came back without both girls. Charlie broke down and lunged towards him. Daryl had to restrain her.

"I'll find her, okay? I'll find her." He reassured her, he would. He would find Hannah. His daughter. Charlie was right about one thing, Hannah needed him. Charlie nodded and Lori wrapped her arms around her. He followed Rick, Shane and Glenn into the woods.

He followed Rick closely. He told them what happened out there how he'd found Sophia.

"You didn't see Hannah at all?" Daryl questioned

"No. I only found Sophia. Hannah was the first one down. She was a lot faster than I thought she would be." Rick explained. "Had to take out two walkers." Hannah couldn't be too far away. They would find Sophia and Hannah. They were going to be just fine. "Here." They were at the creek now. "I left her here."

"You sure this is the place?" He only asked because there was no sign of the little girl.

"Left her right here. I led the walkers off up the creek."

"We're up shit creek without a paddle." Daryl mumbled to himself.

"By the time I got back, she was gone. I told her to run back to the highway with the sun on her left shoulder." Rick explained, Daryl looked up to see Glenn standing right on the trail.

"Hey Short Round, keep to the side. You're mukin' up the trail." He ordered, Glenn stepped off the trail.

"That's assuming she knows her right from her left." Shane countered

"She understood me, Shane!" Rick defended himself

"She was a tired terrified kid, Rick. She had her close call with two walkers." He argued, they all seemed to be forgetting about Hannah. Charlie's little girl was still out there. "You gotta wonder how much of what you said stuck."

"C'mon, sooner we find her, sooner we find Hannah." Daryl reminded the three other men. He followed Sophia's tracks but still couldn't stop thinking about the kid. His kid. The little girl, who had his eyes, that was run off into the woods. This never would've happened if Charlie had kept a damn eye on her.

They kept following the tracks. Daryl explained how it looked like Sophia did what Rick said but then she turned.

"Why would she do that?" Glenn asked

"Maybe she saw something that scared her, and she ran away?" Shane suggested

"A walker?" Daryl looked but only found one set of tracks.

"No other footprints." He pointed out

"What do we do then? Keep following the trail?" Shane asked

"No, best thing is if you and Glenn go back to the highway. Keep everyone busy. Tell them we are on the trail and we're doing everything we can. Make sure everyone is calm." Rick told them the plan.

"And Hannah?" Glenn asked, at least someone was remembering her.

"Tell them that we're following the trail." Rick repeated.

"I'll have them move cars, find other chores. It'll keep 'em busy." Shane told him and gestured for Glenn to follow him.

They kept tracking in silence. It was letting up a bit. He had to concentrate now to see the footprints.

"We'll find her." Rick reassured.

"I know, jus' a matter o' time." Daryl grumbled

"I'm talking about Hannah. We'll find her." He stated. "She's a good kid."

"Yeah, I barely know her." Daryl brushed it off.

"Carl's taken quite the shine to her."

"Can we just get back to trackin'?" He didn't want to talk about his daughter anymore. They had to find her. He couldn't go back to Charlie without her.

**So we've got the first chapter of part 2, shit is already hitting the fan. I hope you guys liked the whole Hannah hearing Daryl, I figured that those tough-as-nails Dixon genes must've been passed on. Please Review!**


	17. Chapter 17

Hannah would be happy if she never saw another tree again. They all looked the same. Every once in a while, she found herself slashing a tree to mark that she'd already been there. She'd done it first to the tree with the hanging walker. She'd only circled once before finding the right track. She knew nothing about tracking but she'd always had a great sense of direction. That trait must've been inherited from Daryl since her mother could barely tell north from south. She had to be heading in the right direction since she hadn't passed any trees she'd marked. She hadn't seen a walker yet, which was a bonus. She could still see her footprints, which was a good sign. She figured she had to be getting closer. If she ever found her way back, the first thing Hannah would do is drink as much water as she could. Or maybe just collapse and sleep. Even the floor of the RV felt like a feather bed. One things for sure though, she would hug her mom. While she didn't entirely forgive her for lying about Daryl, one thing she realized about this whole ordeal was that there was no time anymore. Sometimes, you just have to let go.

She kept going, even though every single muscle in her legs were screaming at her to stop. She was regretting all those times she opted out of running track at school. The gym teacher always gave her the option of participating since she had a clear disadvantage. Most classes she would sit on the side and read. If she'd known of the impending apocalypse, Hannah would've participated more. _Keep goin' girl_. Daryl's voice every once in a while would encourage her to keep going. Maybe it was because of recent discoveries, but his voice was strangely comforting. She thought back to the only happy memory she had of her parents. At the time she didn't know who he was but it was still one of the better times in this new world.

_They were sitting around the campfire. Dusk was setting in so she could still see lips moving. Her mom was laughing at something she'd missed. She could see Carol and Sophia smiling across the way, Ed had gone to bed early. Daryl sat in diagonal to them, his brother, Merle, was hunting overnight. They were eating some venison, just swapping stories. While Hannah missed half of what was being said, this was the first time she'd felt happy in a really long time. Even before the world ended. Here, she had friends that liked her despite her differences. She caught Carl looking her way. She gave him a smile and turned back her attention to the group. It was Daryl who was speaking now._

_"This whole thing reminds me of the time I saw a chupacabra." He declared_

_"You're messing with us." Andrea called him out._

_"I ain't fucking with ya." Daryl's story began. He got glares from all the mothers about his cussing. Hannah suppressed a giggle at the look on his face. "I must've been about six miles, huntin' squirrels when all the sudden, right in front of me is this huge dog. Thought it was harmless at first, til I saw the blood in it's beard and the red eyes. I shit you not, it was chupacabra." Once again the mothers glared but they couldn't hold it as they started laughing at the ridiculousness. "I ain't joking. Soon as I saw it, got the hell out of there."_

_"So you're saying that you saw a blood sucking demon dog in the woods." It was Dale who spoke. He was sitting right next to Andrea and Amy directly across from them._

_"Hell yeah. Never took that trail again."_

_"That's ridiculous." He pointed out_

_"So is the dead coming back and walking around, yet here we are. I know what I saw." Daryl defended himself, the group looked like they were trying to keep from laughing. Hannah was glad he'd told them that story, not because the thought of a blood sucking demon dog wasn't terrifying, but because it was funny. She liked Daryl when his brother wasn't around. He seemed kinder._

She stopped for a second to catch her breath when a groan rang in her ears. Hannah turned to see a walker charging towards her. Her eyes widened and she turned to run. She'd spoken too soon. Of course she would see another walker. _Run!_ Daryl's voice shouted in her head. She going, the entire time hearing the geek groaning behind her. Her lungs felt like they were going to heave right out of her chest. Like the klutz she was, she tripped over some more roots. _Shit!_ She cursed as she crashed to the ground. Her mom would have her chewing on a bar of soap with that language, but it didn't matter. She was going to die. Hannah tried to stand back up but her ankle must've been twisted because she fell back down. She crawled back as far as she could, hitting the tree stump. She gripped her knife, readying herself for the inevitable walker attack. Daryl wasn't going to scoop her up this time. Her mom wasn't going to run them over in an ambulance. She was all alone out here. The walker came closer, it was about thirty feet away. Hannah's hands were shaking. _You gotta fight to live, girl._ Daryl's voice instructed. The walker used to be a woman, it had long brown hair and was wearing a bright pink dress. It was snapping its teeth as it came closer, only fifteen now. _Hannah, fight!_ She couldn't move. The fear paralyzed her.

There was no one around to save her. Her mom would think she died hating her. She'd never see Carl again. She's never even spoken to her father and now she never will. _Stop it! You're gonna to stab that asshole in the head._ Daryl's voice stopped being encouraging and was now ordering her. The walker was about five feet away. They say when one is about to die, they get to see their lives flashing before their eyes. That wasn't the case for Hannah. She only saw the faces of everyone she'd ever cared for in both her new and old life. There were so many of them that were dead now. Her Granny, Amy, Jacqui, she knew for sure they were gone. Her friend Jesse and her Aunt Willow were probably dead too. Her new family though, their faces came like rapid fire. It ended with Carl's, Daryl's and her mother's faces. Would she be a walker when they found her? Would there be anything left of her? Maybe she would get eaten and they would never know what happened to her. That thought was even more horrifying than dying. Her heart pounded loudly.

The walker's foot got caught in the same root hers did. It fell over, it's ankle making a sickening cracking noise as it snapped. She pushed away a wave of nausea at the sight of the bone poking out of it's decayed flesh. It's teeth snapped as be it tried crawling forward. She hesitated for a split second, the geek's hands almost reached her leg, before sinking the knife deep into its skull. It was still growling at her. She took it out and thrust it in again. Each time the knife went it, it made this sort of squishing noise. She kept doing it, unleashing all the anger she'd kept bottled in on this thing. Soon, it made no more noise. It lay completely still at her feet. She stumbled back, her hands, her shirt, and her jeans were covered in blood. The tears started pouring from her eyes. She leaned to the right and threw up whatever was left in her stomach. She'd done it. She killed a walker. She was twelve years old and killed a walker with nothing but a hunting knife. It shouldn't have been possible, yet it happened. The corpse was so mangled, it was hard to believe she was once a human. The thought made her cry more. She'd been a human once, just like Hannah. She killed it. She'd won. She was still alive. The walker didn't get her. One thing was clear now, the little girl from Henessey Georgia was gone. She was truly gone and replaced with a girl who didn't even feel guilty over the fact that she just killed something. If she were being honest with herself, she felt relief. It was dead and she was alive. With that sentiment, Hannah felt lost, more lost than she already was.

_Hannah?_ It was Daryl. Why was the voice still talking to her? She'd survived. She'd done what her instincts had told her to do. Maybe it was telling her to get up and run again but she was tired. The adrenaline was wearing off now.

"Jesus." It was Rick's voice now. Wait a minute, he wasn't in her head. Hannah looked up from the walkers body to see both men standing there looking at her. She wiped away the tears on her face. She supposed she was just rubbing more blood onto her face.

"That blood?" Daryl questioned her. She nodded. "Any o' it yours?" She had to think about it. She fallen and scraped her knees and elbows but besides that, no. Nothing on her shirt was hers. It all belonged to the walker. She never got bit, or scratched. Hannah was just about to sign when she remembered that none of them understood her language.

"No." She told him. He sighed in relief. He took a look at the cuts on her elbow and forearms.

"We'll get your mom to look at those when we get back." He told her. She almost smiled at the thought of seeing her mom again.

"What the hell happened here?" Rick wondered looking at the bloody scene.

"I killed it." Her voice was flat, hollow. It reminded her of Dr. Jenner's voice when he was talking about the virus. That part terrified her. She wouldn't be like him. The two men looked at each other surprised.

"Hannah, did you see Sophia out there?" Rick asked seriously. She shook her head. No, she'd seen a dangling walker, a ton of trees but no Sophia. She was still lost. Just like Hannah was. So very, very lost.

"Doesn't look like this one had anything to eat. Nothin' in its teeth." Rick was bent over the geek she'd killed.

"We gotta get her back." Daryl said after a beat. He crouched down and took the red handkerchief out of his back pocket and started wiping some of the blood off her face. He took her knife out of her hands and put it somewhere she couldn't see.

"Sophia's still out there." Rick tried to reason.

"Look at her, girl's exhausted. 'Sides, it's gettin' dark." Daryl explained. Was it? Had she been gone that long? "Trackin' in the dark's no good. We'd just be trippin' over each other. We'll pick up the trail at first light." He reassured the cop.

"Okay." Rick nodded. "Can you walk?" He asked Hannah. She shrugged and stood up, only to cry out in pain over her ankle. She'd forgotten about that pesky thing. Daryl gestured for her to hop on his back. She did and they started walking back to the highway. All the while, Hannah kept thinking about one thing, she'd survived only because of Daryl. Her survival instincts took shape of her dad. She was more like him than she ever thought possible.

It didn't take them too long to get back. Hannah must've been closer to her group than she thought. Daryl put her down when they reached the top. He put her over the railing. She didn't even blink before her mom wrapped her arms around her. Hannah sobbed once more into her mother's hair. She never thought she'd ever see her again. Her mom finally let her go, but she still kept one hand protectively on her shoulder. They turned their attention back to the group. Carol was right next to the railing. She looked over at the girl.

"Why is she covered in blood?" Carol's frantic voice asked.

"She took down a walker." Daryl explained. Her mom's eyes widened and looked down at her daughter.

"And you?" She gestured to the blood staining his pants.

"We took one down." Rick spoke this time

"Two walkers?" Carol seemed to have a hard time catching her breath.

"There was no sign either of them were near Sophia." He explained, trying to calm the woman down.

"How can you know that?" Andrea questioned

"The one Hannah killed, no skin in its teeth or under its fingernails. We cut the other sumbitch open just to make sure." Daryl explained. Hannah yawned, barely keeping her eyes open. She was exhausted. Her mom tapped on her shoulder.

_'Let's get you to bed.'_ Hannah nodded and they wandered over to the RV. She changed into fresh clothes and passed out on the table/bed that she and her mom used. Andrea offered it to them and she slept in the passenger seat. The men took the floor. She fell into a thankfully dreamless sleep.

* * *

After putting Hannah to bed, Charlotte walked out of the RV, crossing Carol's path on the way. She was crying again. She understood why, quite frankly if the roles had been reversed, Charlotte would be the same. Except, instead of waiting she would probably take off after her. Screw what everyone else said, if her little girl would still be out there, no way in hell would she still be standing there. They'd have to restrain her, again, to keep her from running. Even then, she'd push until they wore down and she'd break free. She wouldn't still be here. She walked over to where Daryl was standing.

"Thank you." She told him

"Was nothin'." He brushed her off. She was used to this when it came to him.

"Daryl, you saved her life. Again." Charlotte reasoned

"By the look o' her when we found her, I'd say she saved herself."

"What d'you mean by that?"

"She took down a walker all on her own." Charlotte couldn't believe it.

"How is that even possible? I mean she's a tiny twelve year old girl."

"She's stronger 'en she looks." Daryl argued

"Guess she got that from her daddy." She told him

"I don't know what you're talkin' about." He could never see himself a fighter, he was a survivor.

"C'mon Daryl, you've been fighting since before this all happened. You kept goin' in a world that knocked you down." She was referring to the scars on his back. He never told her outright where they came from but it wasn't hard to figure it out. She wasn't stupid. Daryl looked away. "Hannah's the same way. Daryl if you knew half the shit she went through, you'd wonder how she was still standin'." She explained. Daryl didn't speak. "Thank you Daryl, you might not have killed the walker, but you brought her back."

"It wasn't-" Daryl started but Charlotte cut him off mid-sentence.

"Just take the damn compliment."

"Fine, you're welcome." Daryl stomped off after that. How had she ever put up with him?

She walked over to where T-Dog and Glenn were standing. She eyed his arm. Dale had bandaged it, since Charlotte was a mess and couldn't get up from the road. It was a mediocre patch job at best.

"Hey!" She waved as she got up.

"How's the kid?" Glenn asked

"She's asleep." She explained. "Let have a look at that arm o' yours." She motioned to T-Dog. He lifted his arm and she checked the bloody bandage. She carefully lifted it up and examined the wound, it was still bleeding. He would probably need a tetanus shot, or some heavy antibiotics.

"How's it looking?" T-Dog asked

"You sure did a number on yourself." She pointed out. "We'll need to look for some antibiotics. Get this cut cleaned out. For now, we'll just change the bandage." She felt like she was slipping into her old roots. "Glenn, I saw a few bandages over in the pile of stuff we collected. Can you grab some for me?" He did as she said and came back with a handful of bandages. She smiled gratefully and went to work on T's arm. "This'll probably hurt a lot. Soon as we find what we need, I can stitch this up." He flinched as she removed the bandage and taped on a new one. "If I'd'a known you'd be cuttin' your arm open, I'd'a packed my sewing kit." Her last one got blown up in the CDC. "Gotta keep a close eye on this, make sure it doesn't get infected."

"Thanks." He said

"It's the least I could do. I'm sorry I didn't do anything earlier."

"I get it. Your little girl was lost." T-Dog explained. "I'm glad they found her. She's definitely a one of a kind kid."

"Yeah, she is." Charlotte smiled. "You should get some rest. Doctor's orders."

"But you're not a doctor." He retorted

"No, but I could've been. Now git." She grinned and gestured towards the RV. T-Dog smiled back and walked back over to the vehicle. Glenn stayed behind, she hadn't spoken to him since he'd help Shane restrain her. She was still angry over it. What right did they have to keep her from looking for her daughter?

"Charlotte, I'm sorry for grabbing your arms." He apologized

"I get it. You were just followin' orders." She replied her back, in a bitter tone, turned starting to walk away.

"No, I wasn't." He told her halting her in her tracks. "I didn't want to see you run and get hurt. I care about you." She looked at him now. "You, T-Dog and Hannah, we've been together since the start. I don't have any blood family left. You guys, you're all I have left. Coming back and not seeing Hannah, it terrified me. I couldn't have you running off and getting killed. I couldn't watch another person in my family die." Glenn explained, Charlotte stepped forward and hugged him tightly. Family made people do crazy things. She was the expert in doing things you don't like for family. She'd left people behind to die in Atlanta that day so she could get Hannah away. She did a lot of shitty stuff for family. She couldn't hold it against Glenn for doing what she'd done in the past.

"We're okay, Glenn." She told him. "I forgive you. You're family too." She let him go and smiled at him. He nodded and went back to the RV.

She could see the group was preparing for bed. Most of them were already in the RV. The Grimes family was sleeping in the car. She could see Lori standing there. She still hadn't entirely forgiven her for keeping her back from running after Hannah. Though after talking to Glenn, she could understand. It wouldn't have done any good, she would've just gotten lost. On the other hand, if it had been Carl out there, Lori wouldn't just have stood there. Charlotte had no idea how they were going to make this work. They were shoving eight people in the small RV. She supposed they'd have to make due. Charlotte yawned, it was an exhausting day. She walked back to the RV and fell asleep. Tomorrow, they would find Sophia. It was going to be a long day.

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I'm catching up on what I have already written and with finals this month, I can't guarantee as fast updates for a while. I'll try my best but I make no promises. Please tell me what you guys thought about it. There's a whole mess of things coming up soon. **


	18. Chapter 18

Hannah woke up to the sun streaming in the window. She was alone in the RV. This was strange, usually she was the first one up. Her legs felt sore from all the running she did the day before but she could just push the pain away. She was getting dangerously good at that. She reached in her bag and took out a pair of blue jeans. She could keep the short-sleeved light grey V-neck she'd put on the previous night. It was sad that her Atlanta Braves shirt was ruined. It was her favourite. Hannah put in her implant. Strangely enough, it wasn't as loud as she thought it was. This meant that she was getting used to the noise. She stepped outside, limping a bit because of her ankle, though the longer she walked, the less it was hurting. Maybe it wasn't such a bad twist.

"Good morning, sleepy head." Her mother greeted, she smiled and hugged her. She wanted to show her that she wasn't angry anymore. She wouldn't be able to trust her as much as she had in the past. At least not yet, but Hannah loved her mom. Her mother needed her just as much as she did. Hannah hadn't forgotten about the CDC.

She walked over to Carl, who stood next to the hood of a silver car. She hadn't seen him since they hid under cars on the highway. She gave him a small smile and a wave.

"How are you?" It was a simple question, but she had no clue how to answer. She knew she should be scared. She'd almost died. She'd killed a walker. The thing is, she didn't feel all that much fear. Last night proved something to her that she never expected, she was tough.

_'O.K.'_ That was what she told him, because she was. Rick came and dropped a bag full of knives.

"I found that." Carl proudly whispered to her.

"Cool." She complimented. Though she already had a knife. Or she did at some point. She remembered Daryl, her dad, putting it in the back of his pants.

"Everybody take a weapon." There was an array of hunting knives, a few longer blades. They were called machetes, right?

"Those aren't the kind of weapons we need. Where are the guns?" Andrea asked, Hannah wondered the same thing. Why wouldn't they have guns?

"We already went through this. Rick, Daryl, and I are carrying. We don't want someone poppin' off round every time they hear leafs rustlin'." Shane explained.

"It's not the leafs I'm worried about" She countered

"Think about this, if that herd's walkin' by," Herd, that seemed like the right word for the walkers that stumbled across them yesterday. "and someone fires a shot. See, now then it's game over for all of us." It made sense. Noise attracted them. With knives, they could kill walkers silently. Just like she did yesterday. Andrea huffed but stayed quiet.

"The plan's to walk up the creek 'bout our miles, then turn around and come back on the other side. It's her only landmark." She had never heard Daryl say this much to the group. Maybe that's why she was so shocked to find out that out of all the people at camp, he was her father. Though why that was got away from her. She was always quiet as well, not just because of what she was. The only person she'd ever been very talkative with was Carl.

"Be discreet, keep space between you but always stay in sight." Rick gave the final order.

"Get your gear." And just like that, the group was going out to find Sophia.

Carl and Hannah stood by for a few extra minutes. He went off to go talk to his dad. She wanted to go with the adults. She looked over to find her mom next to Daryl. They weren't looking at her. She cleared her throat. She had to make her mom understand why she wanted to go out.

"Absolutely not." Her mother said when she walked up. She must've known what Hannah was going to ask.

"Why not?" Daryl asked, okay, maybe they weren't talking to her. They must've not heard her.

"Because I'm not havin' my little girl carryin' a knife." That's what they were arguing about?

"How can you even say that after yesterday?"

"She's a kid." Hannah rolled her eyes at the statement, she cleared her throat, louder this time, making her parents jump. "Hey baby girl, what's goin' on?"

_'I want to look for Sophia with you. She's my friend.'_ She told them.

"Absolutely not!" Her mom snapped

"What'd she say?" Daryl asked, he'd really have to learn how to sign if they ever wanted to talk.

"She wants to come out with us." She stated, Daryl said nothing. "Are freakin' serious right now?" She looked at him in disbelief. "She just had a close call."

"I'm not sayin' I like the idea. Jus' sayin' we need everyone we can lookin' for this girl. 'Sides, she'd probably be safer with us." Daryl reasoned, okay she wasn't expecting him to agree with her. She just thought he'd think she'd get in the way. "If that herd comes back." He reminded her. She still said nothing.

_'I promise I won't do anything stupid.'_ Her mom waited a few more seconds before sighing defeated.

"Fine, but you always stay within my sight and you listen to everythin' we tell you to. Got it?"

_'Yes.'_ She smiled. 'Thank you.' She was just about to go find Carl when Daryl handed her the knife. It was in a leather pouch.

"Keep it holstered in your belt. 'N your shirt tucked behind it, makes it easier to get it out." Daryl instructed, he sort of sounded like he did in her head the day before.

"Thank you." She told him before walking off and going to find her friend.

Carl was standing by the car hood again, looking at the knives. She came up and tapped him on the shoulder, making him jump. She was doing that a lot. She grinned teasingly at him.

"My dad said I could have one since I'm going out to look for Sophia." He explained

_'Me too'_ She pointed down to her own knife hanging off her hip.

"We'll find her." He said in a determined voice.

_'I know.'_ They had to find Sophia. The one that still carried around a doll. The girl that was wearing her rainbow shirt. She was just a little girl. Well, so are you. That voice in the back of her head liked to remind her. She might still be twelve, but Hannah knew that she wasn't a little girl anymore. They would find Sophia. Daryl and Rick had found Hannah. It was only a matter of time.

"C'mon, we've gotta go." Carl pulled her along to where the adults were. It was obvious something had just happened by the way Andrea stomped off. The two must've just ignored the conversation. At this point, Hannah didn't care about whatever Andrea had said. All she cared about was finding Sophia.

* * *

He wasn't sure why he'd convinced Charlie to let Hannah come along. Half of him was telling him how much of an idiot he was. The other half was just reminded that Hannah had almost died and he wanted to keep an eye on her, since it was obvious Charlie was doing a shit job at it. She had one simple task, watch her. She couldn't even do that. Hannah got lost in the woods, just like he was when he was a kid. Daryl thought back to then. He was about her age, maybe a few years young when he got lost. He went missing for a week and no one noticed. That was the difference between Hannah and Sophia running off, they had people to look for them. Hell, they went looking and followed Sophia's trail but ended up finding Hannah instead. It was complete dumb luck. By the looks of it, she was following her own path back. He noticed a few lines scratched in the bark of the tree. She was leaving herself markers. How the hell would a little kid know to do that? When Daryl saw her leaning against the tree, covered in blood with a dead walker at her feet, he felt like this weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He wasn't about to let anything happen to this girl again. What the hell was wrong with him? He barely knew this kid. _She's your blood._ He knew that, blood protects blood, but it still didn't make any damn sense to him. He has never cared about anyone like that.

Daryl pushed the thoughts out of his mind and kept to the trail. Getting distracted over Hannah and Charlie would just make finding Sophia three times as difficult. They were trailing a few people behind. The group came across a tent. Daryl motioned for Rick, who was standing right by him, to be quiet. He didn't want to attract the attention of any walkers inside.

"She may be in there." Shane whispered._ Thank you for your great detective work, Officer._ It was obvious that Sophia might be in there.

"There might be lot o' things in there." He countered before putting down his crossbow and pulled out his knife. He got closer to the tent. It didn't look like there was anyone there. He gave Rick the sign that he couldn't see anything. He crept towards the door, knife poised for the attack.

"Carol," Rick motioned for the mother to step forward. "Call out softly. If she's in there, yours'll be the first voice she should hear." He calmly explained.

"Sophia? Sweetheart? It's Mommy. We're all here baby. Are you there?" There was no reply from inside. Shane and Rick came closer as Daryl opened the door slowly and charged in.

He coughed at the horrid rotting smell. He gave the tent a once over, it was empty. Well, all except for the corpse sitting in a chair with half his face blown off. There were maggots in a few of the wounds. Asshole. The man could've made it, Daryl decided. He could've survived but decided to quit. He saw the pistol in the dead man's hand. He took it and stuck it in the front of his pants. Guns were like gold in this time and didn't look like he needed it anymore.

"Daryl?" Carol's desperate voice reached his ears.

"She's ain't in there." He said once he stepped out of the tent, taking a big gulp of fresh air. The stench of decaying flesh still stung the inside of his nose.

"What was inside?" Andrea asked

"A guy, did what Jenner said." At this point he found himself staring at Charlie. "Opted out." He hadn't forgotten her hesitation at the CDC. She stared back at her feet. "That's what he called it right?"

Before anyone could see anything they were cut off by the sound of bells. They took off blindly, a mistake in Daryl's mind, to find where the sound was coming from. It was a mistake because they had no idea where the sound was coming from, plus it could attract walkers. On the other hand, it was the first lead they had to find her.

"Which direction did they come from?" Shane asked

"That way, I think." Rick pointed in the direction.

"Difficult to be sure out here." Shane pointed out. Daryl found himself next to Hannah and Charlotte.

"If we heard them maybe Sophia did too." Carol suggested

"They could be calling other people." Glenn stated

"Or signaling that they found her." Andrea threw out there

"She might even be ringing 'em herself." These were an awful lot of suggestion but they needed to have hope, right? They continued running towards the sound.

* * *

The bells were getting louder. Hannah couldn't hear them at first, they were just out of range from her implant. Looks like she couldn't hear long distance noises, or maybe it was just the ones just on the edge of normal people's hearing. They found themselves at a church. It was a plain white rectangular building. Nothing like the church in her old town. That one was grand and colourful. Her Granny used to take her every Sunday. She hated it, not only was it dull, she missed half the things that were being said. There was a cemetery lining the outside. As she ran by, she could see a lot of people from the Greene family. Her mom held her back as Rick and Daryl cautiously opened the church doors. She froze when the sound of moans. There was no escaping them. She watched as the three men took out the older walkers.

"Sophia!" Rick screamed, hoping that if she was in there she'd hear him.

"Hey J-C," Daryl addressed the statue of Jesus on the cross. "You takin' requests?" She wasn't here. Hannah felt her heart sink, where was she? Her friend was lost in the woods. The loud sound of bells cut off her thoughts. They screamed in her ears, vibrated. Hannah covered them to try and block it out. However, just like at the CDC, she couldn't. Her mom pulled her outside, the noise was still ear splitting but less. She watched as Glenn pulled shut them off. She uncovered her ears.

"A timer, it's on a timer." Daryl pointed out. There were no actual bells at this church, just the recording. She'd always wondered what bells sounded like. Now that she was hearing them, albeit they weren't real, she didn't like it. Her Granny used to say that bells were messages for every Sunday Mass, wedding, christening, or funeral. Hannah just saw them as loud and obnoxious noise.

"I'm going back in for a moment." Carol announced. She could see the looks she'd been giving her. Hannah knew that Carol was angry that she was safe and Sophia was lost. She could see it in her face. All day, Carol had been throwing her looks. She could feel the gaze. It pissed her off. Why would Carol be angry because she was alive? They would find Sophia and she would be okay.

She followed her mom back into the church. She took a seat next to Carl. They were at the back pew. She tuned out the prayer. It wasn't that she necessarily believed in God, she believed there was something more. There had to be. It was awfully depressing to think that there was nothing after. She just didn't know if there was a God per say, if he was real then he'd been screwing up her life since the start.

"So, you took down a walker?" It was Carl whispering right next to her. Hannah got a flashback to the thing in the pink dress. She unconsciously touched the handle of her knife. She bit the inside of her cheek and nodded. "Whoa, you're tough."

"I puked after." She admitted. "And cried. I'm not tough."

"You're tough. You killed it." It made her sad that that's what was tough now, killing a walker. It had to be done, there was no doubt about it, but still, it made her sad. She got up and walked out of the pew. She needed some fresh air, the rotting corpses were starting to make her gag.

She saw Daryl standing outside, leaning against the church wall. She'd never even had a real conversation with him. They'd exchanged words on occasion but that was it. It was awkward talking to him. She walked up to him. He had a cigarette in his hand. She took a deep breath before speaking. She hated that she always had to prepare herself to talk.

"You smoke?" She asked, catching him off guard.

"Jesus, you're jus' like your mother." He grumbled under his breath. Hannah let out a light laugh.

"So, you smoke?" She repeated

"Yeah, why you want one?" He offered, Hannah shook her head.

"Daryl, I'm twelve." She reminded

"Right, shit." He grumbled awkwardly.

"Smoking causes your lungs to rot and your teeth to yellow." She recited, her mom drilled it into her head enough as a kid.

"Yep, definitely your mother." He stated. She thought back to running through the woods, it was Daryl who encouraged her to keep going.

"I meant to tell you yesterday but I fell asleep. Thank you for saving me." She told him

"I didn' do anythin'." He brushed it off. "Jus' brought you back."

"That's not what I'm talking about." She started but before she could continue the rest of the group started coming out of the building.

Daryl and Hannah made their way back to the group to decide what they were going to do next.

"Y'all are gonna follow the Creek Bed back, okay? Daryl, you're in charge. Rick 'n I are gonna stay back, search the area for an hour or two, just as a precaution." Shane explained

"Splittin' us up. You sure?" Daryl questioned

"Yeah, we'll catch up to you." Shane replied

"I want to stay too. I'm her friend." Carl spoke up. Hannah looked at him, she thought about asking to stay but she knew better. Neither her mom nor Daryl were staying, there was no way they were going to let her.

"Be careful, okay?" Lori hugged her son. Hannah smiled at him.

"Okay."

"When did you grow up so fast?" She questioned. Carl had been growing up for a while, just no one noticed. Hannah hugged her friend.

_'Be safe'_ She said when she let him go.

"I will." He reassured.

_'See you later.'_ She told him before walking away with the rest of the group. She looked back once more just to see him. With Sophia gone, Carl was the only friend she had left.

* * *

Her legs were starting to hurt from all this walking. They'd left Shane, Rick and Carl behind. Charlotte thought it had to be a mistake. Spreading themselves out wasn't ideal. Carol took a seat on a log. Moral was down. After the church, the one solid lead they had. Sophia had to still be out there. She just had to be.

"So this is it?" Carol broke the silence. "This is the whole plan?"

"I guess the plan is to whittle us down into smaller and smaller groups." Daryl was not impressed by this. Charlotte took a seat next to Hannah on the log and handed her some water. It was an extremely hot day.

"Carrying knives and pointy sticks." Andrea complained. "I see you have a gun." She said pointedly to Lori. Daryl had given her his spare when Rick tried to get her to take his. Charlotte rolled her eyes at the statement. Andrea kept prodding, trying to get her gun back. It was starting to get on everyone's nerves.

"Why, you want it?" Lori held out the small pistol which Andrea took. "Here, take it. I'm sick of all the looks you're giving me. All of you." Charlotte avoided her gaze. "Honey, "She was talking to Carol. "I can't imagine what you're going through, and I would do anything to stop it. But you have to stop blaming Rick. It's in your face every time you look at him. When Sophia and Hannah ran he didn't hesitate, did he? Not for a second. I don't know if any of us would have gone after her the way he did." Charlotte would've. She'd tried to but Lori told Shane to hold her back. "Or made the hard decisions he had to make or that anybody would've done it any differently. Anybody? Y'all look at him, blame him when he's not perfect. If you think you can do this without him, go right ahead. Nobody is stopping you." Lori was making a lot of valid points but she still hadn't entirely forgiven her.

"We should keep moving." Andrea handed back the gun and turned to walk away.

They continued their trail. Hannah was close to the front with Daryl and Glenn. Andrea was walking with Carol which left Charlotte with Lori. She didn't speak to the other woman.

"I know you're pissed at me." Lori stated after a few awkward minutes of silence.

"What gave it 'way?" She questioned sarcastically

"I know you don't understand why I did what I did..." She cut Lori off.

"No, I get it. The thing is, I don't give a flying fuck why you did it." She swore. "What pisses me off is that if it were Carl, there is no way you woulda just stood there. As a mom, you shoulda let me go."

"You're wrong." Lori said factually. "If I didn't think I could do anything, I would've just stood there. It would kill me, but I would've stayed put. You could've gotten just lost, or hurt, or worse."

"You make a valid point but you don't know. It wasn' your kid that got lost." As soon as she finished there was a loud bang, coming from the other direction. It halted the group. Hannah was caught off guard by the noise.

"Was that a gunshot?" Glenn asked

"Sounds like." Daryl stated. "Probably nothin', c'mon. We gotta keep lookin'." Lori kept looking behind them.

"I'm sure they're fine." Charlotte assured the woman as they kept walking, though her heart wasn't sure. Call it mothers intuition but she had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I would love to hear the feedback from you guys! Please review/favourite/follow. **


	19. Chapter 19

Where was this girl? They were digging through the woods and had yet to find anything. Daryl could tell that they were starting to lose hope on finding the girl. The stick kept looking behind her to check and see if the cowboy cops and the boy were catching up. Daryl had to admit that they should've caught up by now.

"You still worrying 'bout it?" Andrea asked the woman.

"It was a gunshot." Lori reminded

"We all heard it." He spoke up

"Why one? Why just one shot?"

"Maybe they took down a walker." Daryl tried to think of some explanation for why there would've only been one shot.

"Don't patronize me." He wasn't, he was trying to give a valid explanation. "You know Rick wouldn't risk a gunshot to put down one walker, or Shane." While she was right, the only valid reason he had was with the kid. Officer Do Right and Officer Douche would risk a shot if it was the only way of keeping the kid safe. Except he didn't say that to her. It would do nothing but make her worry even more.

"Shouldn't they be caught up to us by now?" Glenn asked, adding fuel to the hysteria.

"There's nothin' we can do 'bout it anyway. Can't run 'round these woods chasin' echoes." He reasoned.

"So, what do we do now?" Charlie asked him.

"Same as we've been. Beat 'round the bush for Sophia, work our way back to the highway." Daryl explained, he was the one in charge after all.

"They'll hook up with us back at the RV." Andrea comforted the woman. Daryl looked over to Charlie and Hannah. She was handing her a drink of water. Looking at the younger girl, he kept thinking of how lucky he was that he'd found her. There was no doubt in his mind that Sophia was still alive. She had to be. Hannah had survived and she was the same age. The other girl is alive too.

"We're all hoping and praying with you, for what it's worth." He only came in the last bit of the conversation between Andrea and Carol. Something about the comment rubbed him the wrong way. He learned from a young age that hoping and praying for something to change would do shit all. You deal with the hand your dealt.

"I'll tell ya what it's worth, not a damn thing." He told both women. "It's a waste o' time, all this hopin' 'n prayin'." They both looked taken aback by the statement. "We're gonna locate that little girl 'n she's gonna be jus' fine." Was he the only one with a brain around here? "Am I the only one zen 'round here? Good lord." He stomped off, motioning for the group to follow him.

They searched for a bit longer. Daryl could tell it was only a matter of time before they lost the light completely.

"It's gettin' dark out." Charlie pointed out. "We should head back."

"We'll pick it up tomorrow?" Carol asked

"Yeah," Lori put a hand on her shoulder. "we'll find her tomorrow." Daryl looked over to see Hannah standing next to him. She was frowning. It was astounding to him how much she looked like Charlie. He didn't see anything of himself in her. Well, besides the eye colour. Charlie liked to point out things Hannah did that was like him. He, however, didn't see it. In his mind, it was a good thing that she wasn't like him. His father was a deadbeat, he was one too. It seemed like failure was genetic. Daryl hoped Charlie's genes were stronger than his.

* * *

The woods were starting to look familiar to Hannah. She must've run by here the previous day. Further confirmation came from the distinct carvings she'd left. Her legs were just as sore as they were yesterday. Every once in a while she'd look over her shoulder to see if they'd caught up.

"Where the hell are they?" Lori's worried voice asked. They should've caught up to them by now. Hannah had the sinking feeling that something went incredibly wrong. She dared not voice her worries because she knew it would only cause hysteria.

"How much farther?" Andrea asked

"Not much ... maybe a hundred yards as the crow flies." Daryl stated. What did that mean? Hearing people were strange when it came to expressions. Hannah had begun to notice this ever since she started hearing. Hannah was more abrupt and direct to the point. She didn't need to add any expressions to fluff up her statement. How hard was it to say: 'we're close'.

"Too bad we're not crows." Andrea complained, she had to admit Andrea was a whole lot nicer when Amy was alive. Amy, she hadn't thought about her in days. _Amy__'__s dead. She__'__s not coming back. _She had to keep reminding herself that. It made no sense to think about Amy. She was dead.

They kept going, Hannah just wanted to find Sophia and get back to the RV. They were going to find her tomorrow but she knew they were still looking. Hannah stopped at the sound of someone screaming. She looked around and didn't see Andrea. They ran towards the screaming. Hannah grabbed the hilt of her knife as they got closer. The woman was on the ground screeching as a walker attacked her. Daryl positioned his bow, ready to take the shot when the sound of galloping halted them. A woman with short brown hair came soaring in on a horse. She reached for a bat and smashed the geek in the head.

"Lori?" She looked at the women, "Lori Grimes?"

"I'm Lori." She stepped forward

"Rick sent me." Hannah's spine went cold. "You've got to come now!" What happened? Was Rick okay?

"What?"

"There's been an accident. Carl's been shot." Hannah felt her breath hitch in her throat. "He's still alive but you've got to come now." Still alive didn't mean okay. No, not Carl. She'd already lost Sophia, she couldn't lose him too. Not after everything they've been through. She was frozen in place. She watched as Lori climbed onto the back of the horse.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! We don't know this girl. You can't get on that horse." Hannah was having a thought time tuning people out.

"Rick said you had others on the highway, that big traffic snarl?" The woman on the horse questioned.

"Uh-huh." Glenn voiced, since no one else could speak.

"Backtrack to Fairburn Road. Two miles down is our farm. You'll see the mailbox. Name's Greene." With that, the short brown haired woman and Lori rode off. Her head snapped over as the walker that attacked Andrea sat up.

"Shut up." Daryl said before shooting him in the head.

Shot, her friend was shot. _He__'__s still alive._ Still alive didn't mean he was going to be okay. Still alive meant almost dead. He got shot. Carl was a sweet innocent kid and he got shot. If there was a God out there, how could he let this happen? How could he let any of this happen? This had to be some cruel joke. Carl had to be okay. He just had to be. He was just a kid. Sophia was just a kid. Hell, even if she didn't feel like it, she was a kid too. Hannah kept her emotions at bay while walking back. _Still alive._ He couldn't be 'still alive', he had to be alive, fine, healthy. She couldn't lose him. She just couldn't. It was safe to admit that Carl and Sophia were her best friends. After everything they've been through, how could they not be. Now they were both either missing or _still alive. _Yesterday, she was running for her life. This world didn't care that they were children. It seemed like it was targeting them. Trying to take them out one by one. Hannah probably should've died yesterday but she didn't. Was Carl getting shot a way to balance out that she wasn't dead? If it were, then him being only _still alive_ would be her fault. The last thing she'd told him was 'see you later'. What if she didn't? She should've said something more meaningful to him. Not _see you later_. That was lame. It felt like there was a hole in her heart. She should've found some way to tell him how much he meant to her. Everyone she'd ever gotten close with, ever loved were slowly leaving. She was stupid to ever let herself get close to anyone. They always left. She should've known that. She should've told him how much she cared but she didn't. Now he was shot and dying, and there was nothing she could do about it.

* * *

The sky was pink when they got to the highway. Dale came up to them. Charlotte was still shaking from the news. It hit them all hard that Carl was shot. No one had spoken a word on the way back. She kept glancing at Hannah. Charlotte wondered whether or not she had even blinked since Lori had gotten on the horse.

"Where is everyone?" He asked

"Carl got shot. Rick, Shane and Lori are with him." Glenn explained as they hopped over the railing.

"Shot? What d'ya mean shot?" Dale interrogated

"I don't know Dale, I wasn't there." Glenn snapped. "All I know is some chick rode in Zorro style and took Lori."

"You let her?" Dale asked accusingly to Daryl. He rolled his eyes and walked away.

"Climb out of my ass, man" Daryl grunted "Rick sent her. She knew Lori's name and Carl's."

"It was her son, Dale. There's no way she was gonna risk it." Charlotte emphasized. She knew what Lori was going through. Maybe now Lori would understand why she got so mad at her.

Dale continued to talk while Charlotte went to check on T-Dog's cut. He was sweating but also shivering. All signs pointed to infection. He was wrapped up in a blanket, a bottle of ibuprofen was right next to him. It was a generic brand, not one Charlotte would recommend.

"Hey T, how are you feelin'?" She questioned, he just brushed her off. She needed to see the cut to know how bad it had gotten. "C'mon big guy, show me." She crouched and examined his arm. He flinched when she cautiously lifted the bandage. It was gruesome, oozing puss. His veins were severely discoloured. It was a blood infection.

"I gonna die aren't I?" His eyes were practically glazed as he spoke.

"You're gonna be jus' fine." She lied to him. If he didn't get the help he needed, and fast, he would be dead by morning. "Keep yourself hydrated." She handed him the bottle of water next to him before heading back to the group.

Hannah was leaning on a truck next to Daryl. Glenn must've filled Dale in on everything that the woman on horse said. Dale was suggesting they go there tonight.

"I won't go." Carol told them. "We can't just leave." She was right. They couldn't, not while Sophia was still missing, but they couldn't just sit here.

"Carol, we're split up, weak." Dale explained

"What if she comes back and we're gone?" Carol questioned. "It could happen."

"She's right." Charlotte interjected. "If Sophia made her way here 'n we were gone. That would be terrible." She kept her eyes on Hannah.

"Okay, we gotta plan for this. Tomorrow mornin' we put up a big sign, leave her some supplies." Charlotte suppressed a smile at this side of Daryl. This was something she'd never seen but always knew it was there. "I'll hold up here, stay with the RV."

"If the RV's staying then so am I." Dale stated.

"Thank you, both of you." Carol said gratefully.

"I'm in." Andrea added. Charlotte looked down at Hannah. Her gaze snapped up from her shoes.

'_Do you want to go see Carl?__'_ It came down to what her daughter wanted.

'_I don__'__t know. I can__'__t just sit there with his mom and dad. There__'__s nothing I can do there. Here, I can help find Sophia.__'_ Charlotte admired her daughter's maturity. They would go tomorrow. She prayed that everything would be okay.

"Hannah 'n me are stayin'." She joined

"Well, if all of you are staying then I'm..." Glenn started but Dale cut him off

"Not you, Glenn. You're going, take Carol's Cherokee."

"Why is it always me?" Glenn groaned

"You have to find this farm, reconnect with our people and see what's going on." Dale explained. He was right, being scattered made them weak.

"Also, you gotta bring T there." Charlotte started. "That cut's infected. He doesn't get treatment, he'll die." She shouldn't have gone with the group this morning. Maybe if she'd stayed, she could've helped T-Dog. Her head snapped up to the sound of Daryl going over to his bike.

"Keep your oily rags off my brother's bike." He threw the cloth back at Dale. Daryl pulled out a ziplock bag full of prescription bottles and something blue. It took her a minute to realize that it was Crystal Meth. "Why'd you wait till now to say anythin'? Got my brother's stash." So that's how they paid for Merle's medical bills back when they first met. Shane was right, Merle was a drug dealer. "Crystal, X, don't need that. Got some kick ass painkillers." He tossed the bottle to Charlotte. These were powerful ones. They made the ibuprofen T-Dog found look like little candies. "Doxycycline, Not the generic stuff neither. It's first class." He handed the bottle to Glenn. "Merle got the clap on occasion." Her nose wrinkled in disgust, even if she wasn't surprised. He'd tried to get with every girl at their camp.

"What's the clap?" Hannah wondered out loud making Charlotte snort.

"'Nother time kid." Daryl answered.

After T-Dog and Glenn took off in the Cherokee, Charlotte put Hannah to sleep. She looked exhausted. It had been a hard couple of days for her. She was sleeping in the passenger seat since Andrea was trying to clean her gun at the table. Charlotte opted to sleep in the drivers seat. She'd had the little bed for so long, it was time for someone else to take it. It was impossible to get to sleep with the sounds of Andrea struggling to put her gun back together and Carol weeping in the back room. She heard Daryl getting up.

"Need my clip now." Daryl whispered to Andrea. "I'm gonna walk the road, look for the girl." Charlotte crawled out of the drivers seat and grabbed her own gun that was in the bag. She couldn't sit in here another minute.

"I'm comin' too." She told him.

"Can you even shoot that thing?" He questioned

"No, but I gotta mean righ' hook if you remember." She reminded him, back at the beginning of their relationship she'd asked him to teach her some basic self defence incase that asshole from the bar hit on her again.

"Yeah, I do." He touched his jawbone unconsciously since she'd socked him there on more than one occasion.

"Let's go." She walked out of the RV.

"Goin' for a walk. Shine some light in the forest." Daryl informed Dale. "If she's out there, give her something to look at."

"You think this is a good idea right now?" Dale wondered

"We'll be fine, Dale." Charlotte reassured as they took off down the road.

They didn't talk while walking down the road. Daryl had been acting awfully cold towards her. She did need to get out of the stuffy vehicle but she also wanted to talk to him. She felt him staring at her after coming out of that tent. They entered the woods and she couldn't take it anymore.

"You really think we'll find Sophia?" She broke the silence.

"How can you even say that? We just started lookin'." Daryl snapped.

"So, you do?"

"It ain't the mountains of Tibet. It's Georgia." He growled.

"Daryl, she's twelve." Charlotte reminded him

"So's Hannah. She made it."

"Hannah was also found the same day she went missin'." Daryl mumbled something she couldn't hear. "What was that?"

"Nothin'." Daryl grunted. "Hell, I was younger 'en both of 'em 'n I got lost." She'd never known that.

"You did?"

"Nine days in the woods eatin' berries, wipin' my ass with poison oak." Daryl told the story. Charlotte shuddered at the thought.

"They didn't find you, did they?" She'd heard enough about Daryl's father assume as much.

"No, my old man was off on a bender with some waitress. Merle was doin' 'nother stint in juvie. Didn't even know I was gone." She looked down sadly at her feet. "Found my way back, though. Sat at the table 'n made myself a sandwich. No worse for wear. 'Xcept my ass itched somethin' awful." She choked back a laugh.

"I'm sorry, that's a terrible story." She apologized but he let out a laugh.

"Difference is, Hannah and Sophia got people lookin' for 'em. Call that an advantage." He explained

"Yeah, it is." She agreed, it was an advantage. "I wanted to go after her, you know that righ'?"

"Yeah, I know." He acknowledged. "Never woulda happened if you'd just watched her." Charlotte stopped in her tracks. It felt like she'd gotten punched right in the gut.

"What d'j'you jus' say to me?"

"If you'd been watchin' her, then maybe none o' this woulda happened." He accused. Charlotte stepped forward and slapped him across the cheek.

"What was I supposed to do Daryl? She didn' want me there. You don't think that I wish I woulda been there. You don't gotta tell me to feel guilty. I feel it 'very damn day of my life." She spat out. "I blame myself enough for the two o' us."

They kept on their trek in silence after that. Daryl could be so cruel. He tended to use insulting others as a defence mechanism when he was scared or feeling any sort of emotion. What he'd told her, that was simply uncalled for. He wasn't with Hannah either. She didn't say that though. Daryl was her dad. He was a new dad at that. She didn't expect him to jump in and be all gung-ho on the parent bandwagon. His words still cut through her. She hadn't been in the greatest state of mind at the time. She was brought out of her thoughts at the sound of rustling.

"What the hell?" She questioned as Daryl readied an arrow. They broke through the trees and heard the groans. Charlotte gagged at the sight of a big swinging walker. It was stretching its arms and snapping its teeth.

"Got bit. Fever hit. World went to shit. Might as well quit." Daryl read the note out loud. "Dumbass didn't know well 'nough to shoot himself in the head. Turned himself into a big swingin' piece o' bait." She noticed there was a line carved just under the note.

"Wonder what that is." She pointed to it. Daryl looked and groaned.

"Shit."

"What?"

"It was Hannah." He stated.

"How d'you know that?" She shuddered the thought of Hannah, the sweet innocent girl, seeing this.

"When we found her, there was these marks on the trees around. Left herself a trail." He explained. She found herself staring at the corpse.

"I wanted to stay." She said after a minute. "At the CDC, I wanted to stay."

"Why?" He didn't look at her.

"Why did I want to? Or why didn't I stay?"

"Both."

"I'm tired, Daryl. I'm so damn tired of always bein' scared. There's no cure, nothin'. I couldn't bare the thought of watchin' my little girl get torn up." She explained

"Leavin' her like that? That's selfish."

"I know that now. At the time, I thought, I dunno, I thought she'd be fine without me. She's got you." Her actions were stupid.

"If you felt like that, why didn't you stay?"

"It wasn't 'cause I wanted to. I left because you're right, I couldn' jus' leave her." She told him.

"Do you wanna live now?" She honestly didn't know how to answer him. She was cut off by the growl of the hanging walker.

"You gonna put 'im down?" She asked

"Nah, he ain't hurtin' nobody. Let 'im hang." She couldn't take her eyes of the big swinging corpse.

"Please?"

"Answer the question 'n I will." He told her.

"Honestly, I dunno." She didn't tell him how she felt dead already. "I will, though. For her."

"Not much of an answer." He mumbled before shooting the walker in the skull. "Waste of an arrow." He complained before he started walking back. She cast one final look back at the limp corpse before following Daryl's lead.

**I'm sorry for the wait. I hope you guys liked it. Thanks to everyone who reviewed/favourited/followed this story. I would love to get your feedback on this chapter. **


	20. Chapter 20

_Hannah was running again. The green dense woods surrounded her. Adrenaline pumped through her veins. She was scared. Very, very scared. Her breath felt ragged. She knew she was running from something. She just didn__'__t know what from. It felt as though she__'__d cough out one of her lungs. She kept sprinting, only stopping when she reached a clearing in the woods. There was no real sound around her. No birds singing, no wind through the trees, not even the growl of a walker. Nothing. She could only hear her own ragged breaths. Hannah was alone, completely alone. Or she thought she was. On the other side of the clearing stood a boy. She knew it had to be Carl. He was smiling, staring at her. Maybe this wasn__'__t such a bad dream._

_ Carl gestured for her to come closer. Hannah complied walking slowly to him. He seemed fine. He was alive. He was okay. The sun was shining brightly. The smell of the flowers filled her nose. Long grass covered the clearing. It was beautiful. _

"_Come on Hannah!__" __He urged. She giggled and started running. She looked over her shoulder to see a shadowy figure standing on the other side. She saw something metallic in the figures hands. A flame erupted from it. She felt like she was in a container of molasses as she turned back. _

"_Carl, look out!__" __She tried to yell but no sound escaped her started to speed up around her when she saw him sprawled on the ground with a pool of blood surrounding him. __"__Carl?__" __She fell to her knees and tried to press to stop the bleeding. It was seeping through her fingers as she sobbed. She couldn__'__t help him. She watched as he died in her arms. __"__Carl, no. No.__" __It felt so real. The blood staining her hands. Carl__'__s breath running ragged. His eyes were open, staring at her full of pain. Anguish filled her every cell. She couldn__'__t save him. She just watched and sobbed as he closed his eyes and died. _

_ Hannah felt her heart shatter into a million pieces. He was gone. Carl was dead. She leaned her forehead against his and just sat there. He was so still. She felt the hand she__'__d lain on his chest begin to rise and fall. Carl was breathing again. _

"_Carl?__" __She sniffled. His eyes opened, they were clouded and dead. His hands reached up and pulled her hair. She screamed as he snarled before sinking his teeth in her throat. _

She woke up with a eyes filled with tears and her body shook. It was just a dream. She tried to convince herself of that. It was only a dream, but it felt so real. She could still feel blood on her hands, his breathing slowly stopping. Hannah pressed a hand to her throat, double checking that where Carl had bit her wasn't actually there. She'd watched her best friend die. She'd felt the life leave him. Carl, the boy who got shot. Sophia, the little girl who went missing. There was only Hannah left. He could be fine, he really could be. They both could be. For now though, Hannah was the last kid in this group. She couldn't sleep anymore. Hannah wiped the tears from her eyes. She'd find out tomorrow if he was alive, not just _still alive_. Alive, healthy, and safe. They would find Sophia. Everything was going to be okay. Or, as okay as it can be since the world ended. She stared out the window and up at the stars. Normally, she hated the night but as she looked up at the vast star-filled sky, she couldn't remember why she'd felt that way. If there was any up-side to the world ending, it was the sky. Even in her small town, there were never this many stars.

_The next morning:_

She never did go back sleep. Hannah pretended for a bit when her mom came back, but she mostly spent it gazing out the window. She'd never seen the beginning of the sun rise. Usually she'd wake up half way through sunrise. It was beautiful. She got out of her chair and went to the bathroom to get changed. She put on a plaid button up tank top and a fresh pair of jeans. She felt her stomach tie in knots. Her mind drifted back to Carl. They were going to that farm was nervous. What if he wasn't okay? Hannah's dream was so vivd. It felt real.

She walked out of the bathroom. They were starting to stir. She grabbed her implants off the counter put them in her ears. The immediate transition between being unable to hear and when she put her implants in always caught her off guard. It was like when someone would turn on the lights, one second everything is dark, the next _bam! _a bright overwhelming light. Her mom was now sitting at the reassembled table.

"We're just about ready to head out." Dale announced from the drivers seat. She didn't see Daryl anywhere. That is until she heard the rumble of his motorcycle. Carol sat across the table from her mom. She tapped her mother's on the shoulder.

'_Where is Andrea?__' _She hadn't seen her in the RV.

'_Driving Shane__'__s car to the farm.__'_ Her mom explained. Hannah nodded.

'_Can I sit up front?__' _She asked. Her mom nodded. She took a spot in the passenger seat next to Dale.

"Guess your my co-pilot." He stated

"Yeah." She nodded and buckled up her seat belt. Her stomach was still in knots. Hannah bit the inside of her cheek trying to keep her nerves at bay.

The farm was beautiful. It looked almost identical to the one her mother use to work at. There were large fields full of long grass. She remembered running through them and climbing hay bails with her mom. The farm her mother worked at mostly had cattle but they also had a few horses. Hannah loved the animals. She thought that maybe she could be a veterinarian when she got older. She thought she could be a lot of different things. Now, none of this was possible. She would just be a survivor. Dr. Jenner had said there was no cure. It only sunk in now that he was right. She shook away her morbid thoughts as the RV was put in park. Hannah took a deep breath before getting out. She could see Rick and Lori up front. Glenn, T-Dog and Shane, who was now wearing oversized overalls and his thick dark hair was gone, were standing off to the side with a few other people, including the short brown haired woman from yesterday. The woman who said Carl was _still alive._

"How is he?" Dale asked, Hannah felt her heart pounding in her ears.

"He'll pull through." It felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Carl was okay. "Thanks to Hershel and his people." Lori gestured behind her to the old man, that must be Hershel.

"And Shane. We'd've lost Carl if not for him." Hannah looked over the the bald man.

"Thank God." Her mom stated. "We were so worried." She and Lori hugged each other. Good, they'd made up. She knew she shouldn't have eavesdropped on their conversation earlier, but she couldn't help it.

"How'd it happen?" Dale asked

"Hunting accident. That's all, just a stupid accident." Rick explained. Hannah was still reeling that Carl would be okay.

Hannah wanted to go see him, just to make sure for herself. She was smiling just at the thought of him being okay. The grown ups around her were talking, something about a man named Otis who'd died helping Shane get supplies to save Carl. There was his funeral today, Rick said they should all go. Hannah didn't really want to go. There was only one place she'd like to be right now. Lori came over to her.

"Do you want to go see him?" Hannah nodded enthusiastically. "If it's okay with your mom." She looked up to her mother, giving her pleading eyes.

'_Please?__'_ She begged

"Okay, jus' be sure to let him rest. Bring somethin' to do." She hugged her mom, grabbed her bag and followed Lori inside the house.

He was so small in that great big bed. His chest rose and fell, indicating he was alive. He was pale. Hannah almost didn't recognize him.

"He's asleep right now. You can sit in the chair." Lori explained. Hannah didn't take her eyes off the pale boy. She walked over to the chair. It felt good to see him breathing in and out. She was so thankful that Carl was still there. She feared that if she tore her eyes away, he'd vanish into nothing.

It was quite the beautiful little ceremony. Hershel read a passage from the bible as they piled on rocks to make a memorial grave stone. The man's, Otis, wife Patricia wept. Her heart broke for the woman. Her husband died saving a Charlotte was glad when Lori asked Hannah to go see Carl. She'd been to funerals, yes, but never while she was hearing. Charlotte knew she couldn't shelter Hannah from everything but that didn't mean she couldn't try.

"Shane, will you speak for Otis?" Hershel's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"I'm not good at it. I'm sorry." Shane looked very different now that he'd lost his hair. His jaw looked more angular, he looked his age now. Before, he looked younger. This look, it sort of fit with the apocalypse.

"You were the last one with him. You shared his final moments." Patricia pleaded through her tears. "I need to hear. I need to know his death had meanin'." Everyone wanted to know if the death of a loved one had meaning. Most of the time it didn't. One second they were there, the next gone. It doesn't always make sense.

"Okay," Shane started. "We were 'bout done. Almost outta ammo. Down to pistols by then. I was limpin'. It was bad. 'We gotta save the boy'. That's what he said." His voice was controlled. Much too controlled. Something didn't sit right with her. Because of Hannah's condition, she'd gotten really good at picking up on body language cues. Shane was avoiding eye contact with others. "He gave me his backpack. Shoved me 'head. 'Run,' he said. 'I'll take the rear, cover you'. When I looked back…" He drifted off. "If not for Otis, I'd've never made it out alive. Same goes for Carl. It was Otis. He saved us both. If any death ever had meaning, it was his." Shane went over and placed a rock on the pile. Charlotte kept looking at him even after he went back to the group. She knew it in the pit of her gut, Shane wasn't telling the whole truth of what happened last night.

The group dispersed after that. They grabbed the supplies out of the vehicles to go and set up camp. This time instead of being across camp from each other, Charlotte set up right next to Daryl. They weren't anywhere near being in the 'sharing a tent' phase. She didn't even want to think about going past the awkward neighbours stage. However, she was going to do this for Hannah. She should be getting to know her dad. Daryl should be getting to know her as well. Things were still awkward between them after Charlotte's confession last night. She needed to make sure he knew how to take care of their daughter if ever something happened to her.

Popping up a tent alone was a lot harder than she remembered. Both Daryl and her ex Derek had taught her how to do it but she had a hard time doing it on her own. She huffed in frustration trying to clip in the pole.

"Jus' fuckin' go up already." Charlotte groaned in frustration.

"You need help there momma?" It was T-Dog. Charlotte smiled and hugged him.

"Glad to see you're still alive." She told him. "How you feelin'?"

"Better." He said, "Still sorta feeling like shit but at least I'm alive."

"Good thing too. Who else would help me with this tent?" She gestured to the pile of fabric on the ground. T-Dog laughed and bent down to help her. It didn't take them long to get it. Soon the tent was standing up.

"Thanks T."

"My pleasure. Thanks for helping me yesterday." He said gratefully. Charlotte nervously bit the inside of her cheek.

"I didn't do anythin'. I shoulda stayed b'hind yesterday, kept an eye on that cut." She felt guilty, what else was new.

"Nothin' you could've done. Dale and I looked through the cars, there was nothing." He was trying to make her feel better. She nodded, it lessened the guilt she felt but not by much.

T-Dog left after that to go with Dale to get water. She saw Daryl exiting the RV with his crossbow draped across his back.

"Goin' to look for Sophia?" She asked going towards him.

"What's it to you?" He asked snidely, she knew why he was behaving like this. After their talk the previous night, Daryl was being somewhat cold towards her. He always thought that suicide was a very last resort, if there was no way of getting out, that's when he thought it was okay. They'd had this talk back in the day. Charlotte was upset because an old man had come into the hospital carrying his teenage daughter who'd slit her wrists. The girl didn't make it. That night she called Daryl and they'd talked. It was the first time they'd gotten together without having sex.

"Alone?" She ignored his previous comment.

"Yeah." Daryl answered. "Better that way, don't need to take care o' no one."

"Just, be safe out there. Okay?" She didn't know what else to say to him. Anything she said would probably start an argument that wouldn't benefit anyone.

They were walking by the house. Charlotte could see Rick standing on the porch in his police uniform. She always thought he looked a bit goofy in it. This was the end of the world, there were no more cops. Yet here he was, Officer Rick Grimes, the cowboy cop.

"Daryl!" He called out stopping both of them in their tracks. "You okay on your own?"

"Better on my own. I'll be back b'fore dark." She didn't believe him. While Daryl is fully capable on his own, she didn't think he was better off. Daryl needed someone, even if he didn't know it.

"Hey." Rick grabbed his attention. "We got a base now. Get this search properly organized." Charlotte looked at him in confusion. What did he mean by that?

"You gotta a point or are we just chattin'?" Daryl voiced both their confusions.

"Means it lets you off the hook. You don't owe us anythin'." Did Rick want Daryl to leave? Better yet, did he want to leave?

"I got other reasons." He was looking at her now. She gave him a small smile before he walked off.

"He knows that me 'n Hannah won't leave the group. He won't leave his kid. Daryl's many things, but he ain't gonna the kind o' man to abandon his family." Charlotte explained to Rick. She remembered the conversation they'd had in Daryl's van. _I know you wanna go find Merle. __'__N I get that he__'__s family, he__'__s blood. But he ain__'__t here, she is. _It felt like they'd had this talk so long ago. Daryl was a man with a code, blood was everything. Hannah was his only tie to the group, Charlotte knew he wouldn't stay for her. He hadn't twelve years ago and he probably wouldn't now. She turned and walked away to go back to camp. There list of things she had to do.

Hannah was drawing now. She'd grown bored of watching him breath. She relished in the almost quiet. She could hear the little creeks in the house but she figured it could be worst. The small noises were irritating but could be blocked out. It was the closest she could get to complete silence while she was wearing the implant. She heard a small cough coming from the bed. She looked up from her drawing pad to see Carl's bright blue eyes looking at her.

"Hannah?" He asked weekly.

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

"It hurts but I'm okay." He explained, she frowned at him being hurt. "Where's Sophia?" She was caught off guard by the question. Didn't he know that they hadn't found her yet?

'_I don__'__t know.__' _It was true, she didn't know where Sophia was.

"They still haven't found her, have they?" Carl was one perceptive kid. Hannah shook her head. "We'll find her."

'_I know.__' _She told him. They wouldn't stop looking. Sophia was still alive. If both Carl and Hannah had made it, so did she. It only made sense. He looked so fragile on the bed but she knew he wasn't. She remembered him calling her tough at the church because she'd killed a walker. "You know, you're pretty tough."

"No, I just got shot. Didn't kill a walker, like you." She frowned deeply at that.

"You got shot, and are still here. That's tough." She reminded him. She could tell he was exhausted.

'_Go to sleep.__' _She ordered, Carl groaned.

"Bossy." He mumbled before closing his eyes. Hannah grinned before going back to her drawing. It amazed her how she could get lost when drawing something. Sometimes it felt like her mind was just cleared so her hands had little brains for themselves. She was drawing an under water palace with mermaids surrounding it. Maybe Amy wasn't so far out of her mind. She liked to think that this is where she was now. It wasn't done yet but maybe she would give it to Andrea. Maybe it would give her some sense of hope. That was something that was hard to find these days. Hannah figured that they needed to draw it from even the smallest of events. It was the only way to keep moving forward.

**I am so sorry for the late update. I've been super busy the last week with school and job stuff. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review and let me know what you think!**


	21. Chapter 21

Charlotte was putting the final touches on their tent. She set up the beds and put in the bags. She found herself humming some old Irish song her mother used to sing. She was a second generation immigrant from Ireland. Charlotte's family immigrated from Europe just after World War Two, her mom was around Hannah's age when they arrived. Her mom used to sing all the old songs to Charlotte and her sister Willow in order for them never to forget where they came from. When Hannah was a baby, Charlotte used to sing them to her. I was the only way she could get to sleep. She laid down the sleeping bags when she heard someone clear their throat. She jumped and turned to see Lori standing sat the threshold of her tent.

"Can I come in?" She asked

"Sure." She complied

"Look, you were right." Lori said after a beat. "I never should've did what I did. I understand now."

"I'm sorry that you do." And she was. There was nothing like that fear of having your child lost for good.

"Are we okay?" Lori asked

"Of course." Charlotte gave her a reassuring smile.

"Guys!" It was T-Dog's voice coming from outside the tent. Lori and Charlotte stepped out. Glenn, Andrea, Shane, and Hershel's daughter, Maggie were also there. "We got a problem."

It sure as hell was a problem. Charlotte stood by the well with the group. The usual rancid smell from the walker was being blocked by the depth on the well. She could hear the growling. Charlotte peered down and gagged at the sight. She'd never seen a more disgusting thing. Whoever it was before has on the heavy side. It's face was bloated. The moaning and hissing echoed on the stone walls.

"That's one ugly sumbitch." Charlotte declared after a moment.

"How long d'you think he's been down there?" Glenn asked

"Long enough to grow gills." Andrea stated making Charlotte cringe once more.

"We can't leave it there. Lord knows what it's doing to the water." Lori pointed out.

"We gotta get it outta there." Dale said obviously.

"Easy. Put a bullet to its head." T-Dog planned.

"No." Charlotte and Maggie said at the same time.

"Why? It's a good plan." Glenn questioned. Typical male response, Charlotte thought, guns are always the way to go.

"It's a dumb plan." Charlotte informed them. "If that thing hasn't already contaminated the water, spilling it's blood'll finish the job." This was basic knowledge.

"She's right. We gotta find some other way." Shane agreed with her.

"So it's gotta come out alive?" T-Dog asked

"So to speak." Shane joked after. There had to be some way to do this right.

They'd thought about it for a few moments before Maggie came up with a plan. They had to bait it somehow. Maggie went to the house to grab anything they could use. She brought back a canned ham. Glenn lowered it deep into the well but the walker wasn't moving to it. The whole thing reminded her of the crappy fishing trips she'd take with her father. Willow was more the fishing type. Charlotte needed to move constantly.

"He's not goin' for it." Maggie stated.

"Maybe 'cause canned ham ain't kickin' or screamin'." T-Dog suggested.

"He's got a point. The dead didn' come back to life and start raidin' our cupboards." Charlotte added. They pulled out the

"We need live bait." Andrea said looking straight at Glenn. Charlotte's heart started to pound when Glenn actually agreed.

They were tying Glenn up, ready to lower him down. It did make sense to ask him to go, he was the lightest of the men and he was the fastest. Still, it made her uneasy. She felt responsible for him. Glenn was right, they were family.

"You don't have to do this." She told him.

"I'm not going to make you go down there." Glenn explained. Shane was checking over the nots, making sure they were still tight. "Have I mentioned how much I love your new haircut? You've got a nice shaped head." He prattled nervously.

"Shane, this is crazy." She told him.

"Don't either of you worry, we'll get you back in one piece." Shane reassured

"Living piece. The living part is important." Glenn was still rambling, not lessening Charlotte's nerves one bit. Charlotte and Shane walked over to the rope to help lower him down. "Nice and slow, please." Glenn cautiously started dropping down the hole.

"We got you." Shane reassured as Glenn disappeared from sight.

"Oh, you people are crazy." Maggie exclaimed. _Yes Maggie, yes we are. _It was crazy what they were doing. They were risking Glenn's life. The water might already be contaminated.

"Give us an eye there Maggie." Dale suggested. The rope was burning her hands and the loose fibbers dug into her skin.

"Little lower. Little more." Shane instructed.

Things were working fine, when suddenly, their anchor snapped, sending the rope through their hands. Every was moving so fast. T-Dog ran and grabbed the metal, planting his feet on the side of the well. She could hear everyones frantic screams, Glenn's echoed off the stone walls. Soon the rest of the group was running and grabbing the rope and the metal pole. Charlotte helped pull him up. Her heart pounded the whole time.

"Get me out of here!" Glenn screamed frantically. They all pulled him up. He was heavier than expected. With all their combined strengths, they managed to pull him out of the hole. They all collapsed on the ground panting. Charlotte crawled over the the young man, who was shaking heavily.

"Are you okay?" It was all she could muster.

"Yeah." He panted.

"Back to the drawing board." Dale sighed

"Says you." Glenn replied with a grin on his face. He handed Shane the extra rope that still led deep into the well. Charlotte let out a relieved breath.

"Don't you do that to me again, got it?" She threatened.

"Trust me, I don't plan on it."

"How're we gonna get it out? Thing probably weighs three of us put together." She pointed out to the rest of the group.

"I've got a plan. Gimme a minute." Maggie said before running towards the stables.

She came back about a minute later with a horse. Of course, it finally registered with her, they were going to tie the rope around the horn of the saddle. With all of them pulling and the strength of the horse, they'd be able to get the walker out, no problem. T-Dog stood by the well, with his crowbar ready to kill it. He was the eyes this time.

"C'mon, guys, pull." T-Dog encouraged them.

"C'mon y'all." Shane urged. They had to be getting closer. Charlotte's arms strained as she pulled once more. This whole thing was giving her quite the workout. She blocked out all the encouragement. It just sounded annoying to her now. She could see the top of the walkers head now. It was even more hideous up close. It was almost bald with yellow spongy skin.

"Pull!" T-Dog shouted as they yanked one more time until it was over the edge. They kept going but it wouldn't budge.

"Shit." Charlotte cursed under her breath. She could see the body slowly breaking apart. "Stop!" She yelled, but it was too late. A pop echoed as the lower half of the corpse broke off, tumbling into the well. It's guts spilled all over the ground. Charlotte wrinkled her nose in disgust. She'd seen a lot of disgusting things in her time, this one was among her top five.

"We should seal off this well." Dale stated the obvious. The walker's guts contaminated the water.

"Might be a good idea." Shane agreed. The half-walker was still snapping at them from the ground.

"What do we do about…" Before Glenn could finish his question, T-Dog was already bashing in the walkers brains. Maggie gasped in the background. By the look of the brunette's face, she'd never seen a walker die before. How could she have been in this world for so long yet escape viewing these horrific things?

"Good thing we didn't do anything stupid like shoot it." He said sarcastically. Charlotte knew that shooting it was a dumb idea, there was nothing they could do now. Either way, the well was contaminated.

* * *

It was hot. That was all Daryl could think. The sweat dripped down his back. What he wouldn't do for a nice cold beer right about now. He had hunted in extreme heat before, that didn't mean it was any less uncomfortable. He'd been searching around the creek for a few hours. There was no trail for him to follow now. He had to find that little girl. He wasn't a leader like Rick or Shane. He didn't do runs like Glenn did. There wasn't much he could do but hunt and track. Now they were on a farm where they didn't need him to hunt as much. So, that left tracking. He would find Sophia. He wasn't about to leave the group, not while Hannah's still there. He had no lead on Merle. As far as he knew, Hannah was all he had left. Funny, he didn't actually know anything about her. She didn't talk much, neither did he. The few times she did, she made herself heard. He remembered when they were trapped in the CDC. He pounded on the door, a feeble attempt to get them out, but he stopped when he heard a voice he'd never heard before. Hannah was strong, more so than both her mother and father. He was thankful for that. He didn't say any of that though. Like he said, he and Hannah didn't talk. He saw himself more as a background sort of guy. He would probably never be fully emerged in her life. Didn't seem like the thing he'd do. He would never be like Rick. He kept his distance from her because he knew that he was deadbeat, just like his father. He was a stranger to her, and it was better off that way.

He walked until he saw an abandoned house. He readied his bow incase of any dead bastards inside. It was in shambles. Broken picture frames and old news papers littered the floor. Daryl was surprised the house was still standing. It was a bigger version of the one he lived in when he was a kid. He peered into one of the trash cans and found some empty sardine cans. A little further, there was a door that was somewhat open. Daryl slowly opened it, ready for anything that would come out. It was empty, save a rat. There was a makeshift bed inside. Based on the height of lowest shelf, whoever slept here couldn't be more than an inch taller than Hannah. Sophia was here, he just knew it. He did a once over of the house. There was no other trace of her. Maybe, she'd just slept in the cupboard last night and then left before he got there to head back to the highway. Daryl stepped back outside.

"Sophia!" He called out, she couldn't be too far. Something white caught his eye. It was a rose, a Cherokee Rose. He wasn't a very religious man. He believed in God, to an extent. It was hard not to when is was drilled enough into his mind as a kid that he was real and piss him off meant an eternity in Hell. Daryl already knew that's where he was heading. He wasn't a good man, no matter what Charlie tried to tell him. Well, he wasn't before. It was a little late to atone for all the shit he's done in his life, maybe finding this girl was a start. This bush of roses had to be some sort of sign that Sophia was still out there. He picked one, maybe it could bring some hope to Carol.

Daryl kept searching in the woods. There was no clear trail but it didn't hurt to head somewhat to the highway. He could pick up a trail leading to her. All he needed was a little luck. The woods were quiet, he relished in it. Here, there was no drama like there was at camp. Out here, he was completely alone. Gave him time to really think. The conversation between he and Charlie last night still hung in his thoughts. He had an inkling that she wanted to stay at the CDC but to actually hear in coming from her, Daryl didn't understand. The girl he knew always fought to be alive. This woman was hollow. She said she didn't want to live, but she would. She made it seem like such a chore. Daryl didn't see it that way. He thought himself lucky to still be alive. He could be one of those dumb dead bastards.

The sound of a branch snapping pulled him out of his thoughts. He turned his bow towards the sound, it came from behind the bushes. He wasn't about to be stupid and go through it.

"Sophia?" He called out, if the girl was there, she'd come out. If it was a walker, it wouldn't catch him by surprise. Either way, he had his weapon posed. The leaves rustled as someone came tumbling out. Daryl looked to see a blond haired woman lying on the ground. Her chest heaved up and down with heavy breaths. Her eyes snapped open and she jumped onto her feet, a long blade of a machete pointed at his head. Her dark brown eyes were wild. Daryl saw the blood staining her black cargo pants and green t-shirt. Her skin was paling, making him realize it was her own blood.

"I'd lower that, if I were you." She warned, she had a light Georgian accent.

"Really? What d'ya thinks faster? My arrow or your knife?" Daryl taunted.

"D'you really wanna find out?" She threatened, though it looked like she was about to pass out.

"You been bit?" He asked urgently

"No." She was swaying now, until she finally collapsed on the ground. Daryl considered leaving her there. She obviously had a few loose screws, but there was something familiar about her. Maybe it was in her face but he couldn't quite place it. So, against his better judgement, he gave her the once over, making sure there were no bites or scratches. He found a pretty deep cut. It looked like a bullet gazed her. He lifted her bridal style and headed back to the farm.

* * *

Lori had come by, wanting to spend time with Carl. Hannah got up and walked over to the camp. Her mom was taking inventory of the food, something Hannah thought boring and tedious. She decided instead to explore a bit. She hadn't been on a farm in so long. She missed the smell of farm animals, it was a strange thing to miss but that didn't bother her. The smell reminded her of happy times playing in the fields with her mom and brushing horses or milking cows. She walked in to the stables and took in a deep breath. Then wrinkled he nose because the smell of horse poop stung. She saw two empty stalls, Lori had said that the brown haired girl from yesterday and Glenn had gone out to the nearby pharmacy. That had been a long time ago, they must be on their way back soon. There was a black mare facing her in the stall, there was a white spot the size of a medallion on his forehead. It was the only speck of colour that she could see. It sneezed, making her jump. So, that's what a horse sounded like. At least one that wasn't neighing. It's breath quickened as Hannah got closer to pet the horse. She calmly placed a hand on its long nose, calming the beast instantly. Once an animal knew she wasn't a threat, they would calm and let themselves be pet. Hannah start petting it.

_That__'__s it, you__'__re a good horse. _It made no sense to talk to it. Wasn't like the horse could understand her. Instead, she just kept petting it silently. It was calming, her breaths syncing with his.

"He likes you." The voice made Hannah jump right out of her skin. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." She turned to see the brown haired girl standing there with two horses trailing behind her. She and Glenn had just gotten back. All the sudden, she felt guilty. What if the Greene's didn't want them to go here. She'd never asked permission. Her mom didn't even know she was there. Hannah had just told her that she was going to look around. Her mom had been so distracted in her work, who knows if she actually heard her?

"I'll, uh, go." she awkwardly spoke. "Sorry for intruding."

"No, no. It's okay." the girl objected. "Don't think we've met officially. My name's Maggie."

"Hannah." She bit the inside of her lip. "I have to go. My mom will worry." She stated.

"Alright, if you ever want to come see the horses, you can." Maggie clarified.

"Thank you." She smiled before exiting the stables.

Hannah was cautious when it came to new people, she always had been. It had taken her a week to get somewhat close to the other members of the group. She'd played that first game of chess with Carl and Sophia but they didn't talk much until about third or fourth day in. Hannah had been reading next to the fire pit when Carl came next to her. Apparently he'd been talking to her for about a minute before he remembered she was deaf. They'd bonded easily, which she'd always thought was strange since he was so different from her. Though, she thought that at the end of the world, what did it matter that she was deaf and he was hearing? Of course she was cautious, she knew how mean kids could be, but neither Carl or Sophia seemed that way. She was thankful for that, it would be awfully lonely at the end of everything without a friend.

* * *

This girl was getting heavy. Daryl's arms strained. He was getting closer, good thing too. The girl looked tiny, but she was mostly muscle. He had to hurry, the girl was bleeding out all over his shirt. He looked down to see a pair of tags hanging around her neck. She was military. He never would've guessed.

"Oliver… I have to find Oliver." She mumbled. _Sorry Princess, we all got people to find. _Daryl thought. Everyone had lost someone in the end.

Daryl recognized his own trail now. He was getting closer. The girl was still mumbling about Oliver. He found himself in the long grassy field of the farm. He could see the RV in the distance, close to the big white farm house.

"Almost there." He told the woman as he started jogging. He didn't want the girl bleeding out. The closer he got, the more attention he drew.

"That Daryl?" He heard Glenn ask when he got within ear shot.

"Yeah." It was Dale now.

"Hey!" He called out. They needed to get her stitched up. "Need some help here!"

"Who's he got?" Shane wondered

"Is that Sophia?" It was T-Dog now.

"No, too big." He didn't even care, he just had to get this girl help. Didn't really know why, but he felt like he had to. He walked past the group. He could see Hannah and Charlie standing off to the side with curious expressions.

"What's goin' on?" Rick demanded coming from the house.

"Could use some help! Where's Charlie?" He asked

"I'll get Hershel." Right, because there was more than one person who could do this. Rick ran back in the house and the old man came out.

"What happened?" He asked upon seeing the young woman.

"Don't know. Came tumbling out a bush covered in blood." Daryl recounted.

"Was she bit?"

"No. Think she was shot." Daryl quickly explained. "Passed out 'fore she could tell me anythin'."

"Bring her in." Hershel ordered. Daryl carried her inside and followed Hershel's youngest daughter, he thought her name was Beth, to a bedroom down the hall. He laid the woman down on the bed and was ushered out of the room. Hershel got to work stitching her up.

He found himself in the hallway ambushed by Rick and Shane. Charlie was standing off to the side with Lori.

"What the hell were you thinkin'?" Shane scolded him. "We don't know this girl."

"What d'you expect me to do? Leave her in the woods to bleed to death?" He was right in Shane's face now. He was fuming. He had been higher than thou when Daryl had wanted to kill Jim after he was bit. He had agreed with Rick in saying 'We don't kill the living.'

"We aren't sayin' that." Rick calmly stepped between them. "Look, d'you know anythin' 'bout her? She say anythin'?"

"Nothin'. Don't even know her name." He thought maybe he shouldn't mention Oliver. It wasn't his story to tell.

"Look, we just patch her up n' we'll figure it up." Rick explained. Daryl nodded agreeing. He then explained the farmhouse he found and how that could be a lead on Sophia.

Hershel stepped out moments later, wiping some blood on of his hands.

"She'll be fine. Just needs rest." Hershel explained. They didn't know who she was, but they'd felt some relief. Charlie and Lori walked over and went into the room. They were probably going to see who's clothes would fit the woman better. Daryl trailed in after, he just wanted to make sure. He walked in to see Charlie stopped right by the bed her hand covered her mouth in shock. He could see the tears brimming her eyes.

"Charlotte, you okay?" Lori asked from next to her.

"I know her." Charlie managed to spit out. "Her name's Willow. She's my sister."

**Cliffhanger! I am so sorry for the long wait, I've been super busy with end of semester stuff. I'm done school now and I won't be starting work for a couple of weeks so I should be updating. I can tell you now that Willow will not impede on the Charlie/Daryl relationship. I have a ton of plans coming up for these characters (one of which I know will get me a lot of hate but it's worth it). ****Anyway, please let me know what you think. I would love to know your opinions or even some predictions.**


	22. Chapter 22

Charlotte kept staring at the sleeping form of her sister. She couldn't believe it, Willow was alive. What were the odds of this? The world was somewhat smaller now but even so, Will was in Nashville. What was she doing here? Charlotte sat down on the corner and took her hand. She rubbed her thumb across. She felt something cold press against her palm. She looked to see a beautiful gold ring on her finger. Well, she wasn't expecting that. All the anger she'd once had towards her disappeared. Her baby sister was alive. She was laying in front of her. The two sisters looked a lot alike. They'd inherited their mother's cheekbones and blond hair. Will, on the other hand had taken their father's dark brown eyes, whereas Charlotte got their mother's green. She still couldn't believe it. Things seemed to be looking up now. Lori cleared her throat.

"Lori, will you look in on Hannah?" She asked the brown haired woman. Hannah would want to see Willow but she thought it best to wait for her sister to wake up.

"Yeah, no problem. Anything else you need?"

"No, everythin' fine," and it was. Charlotte couldn't stop smiling, Will was alive.

Her sister began to stir. She hadn't changed all that much. Her hair was still just as long as it had always been. It had been months since they seen each other, well since Charlotte had blown her off. Willow's eyes opened slowly.

"Oliver?" Her voice was weak. Who was she talking about? Could it by the man that gave her the ring?

"Will?" Charlotte asked softly. Willow body snapped up. She reached for something on her hip. She looked around frantically. Her eyes were terrified. "Willow! It's me, it's Charlotte. It's okay, You're okay," this wasn't the first time this sort of thing happened. Charlotte knew that when Will behaved this way, she had to reassure her she was safe. Her mom had always been better at it then she was.

Her sister's eyes widened in recognition. "Charlotte, you're alive?" She nodded, letting tears fall freely. She leaned and hugged Willow tightly. "I can't believe it," she sobbed into Charlotte's shoulder.

"Me neither," she couldn't, it all seemed so impossible. Charlotte feared that if she blinked, Will would disappear. When they broke apart, her sister groaned in pain.

"What the hell happened?" She asked

"One of my group members," no sense in telling her it was Daryl yet, Will already had a bad image of him based on what she'd told her. "found you in the woods. Carried you back. 'fore that, we don't know."

"Where's Hannah?" Her voice etched in worry.

"She's 'round here," Will let out a relieved breath.

"She's okay?"

"Yeah, she's doin' just fine."

"Thank God." Will whispered. "Where are we?"

"A farm. About an hour away from home." Charlotte explained, she had to ask about Sophia. There was a good chance Will had seen the girl. "I gotta ask somethin'…"

"Go ahead."

"You see a little girl in the woods? 'Bout Hannah's age, short brownish blondish hair. Goes by the name Sophia." Willow shook her head.

"No sorry. We - me - I …" She stuttered, Charlotte raised her eyebrow at the rambling but said nothing. "haven't been in this area long," Will groaned again.

"My leg hurts," she complained putting her hand down to touch her bandage.

"That's what happens when you get shot. 'N don't touch that," Charlotte scolded. "How did that happen by the way?"

"Long story," Will chocked up a bit but covered it up with a yawn. Charlotte knew her sister well enough to spot her tell tale sign that she didn't want to talk about it.

"Get some rest. I'll get you some food 'n some clothes," Charlotte stated. Willow nodded and lay back down, closing her eyes. She must've been exhausted. She'd prod later about who Oliver was, how she'd gotten here and about the ring. For now, she would let her sister sleep.

She made her way back to camp. They were gathered around the fire pit eating. Hannah was sitting between Daryl and Glenn. When she came up, they stopped to look at her. Charlotte smiled awkwardly. Rick and Shane pulled her to the side.

"How's she doin'?" It was Rick who'd asked. "She wake up?"

"Yeah, but she's restin' now." Charlotte explained

"She talk about what happened in the woods?" Shane asked

"No. Didn't say much."

"She see Sophia out there?" Rick questioned

"No, but she hadn't been in the area long." She added the last part, seeing as Rick's expression dwindled a bit.

"Alright, just 'cause she didn't see her doesn't mean Sophia's not still out there." Rick reassured, though she had the sneaking suspicion he was mostly telling himself that.

"We still don't know why she was shot." Shane pointed out

"I'll talk to her in the mornin'. For now, she needs to rest." Charlotte informed the two police officers.

"Okay, we'll deal with this in the morning," Rick agreed quickly. She gave a curt nod before heading back over to the group.

Hannah eyed her from across the fire. Charlotte was currently eating some dinner. She'd given Lori some food and clothes to take to Will. She needed to eat and do that wonderful thing called sleep. This had been an exhausting day, much like every day had been.

'_Is it true?__'_ Hannah questioned from across the fire. Charlotte took another bite of the noodles on her plate. They'd found packs of ramen noodles in an abandoned mini van on the highway. It brought her back to her days in med school, pre-Daryl of course since she couldn't even stand the smell of them when she was pregnant with Hannah.

'_Can I see her?__' _Hannah asked after Charlotte swallowed more food.

'_Later. She__'__s sleeping now.__' _She explained

'_O.K.__' _Hannah was smiling widely. She and Willow had been very close until she moved. They'd tried to keep somewhat of a relationship after but it didn't work out. They would write letters to each other until one day, the letters stopped. That was something Charlotte had never understood. It was what had put the final nail in the coffin that was their relationship. Though, it all seemed so trivial now.

* * *

_ The explosion rumbled the earth around her. Willow felt the heat radiating from the flames hitting her face first. There was heavy gunfire coming from all directions. She ducked behind an overturned car, her pack weighed heavily on her shoulders. She turned and crouched, readying her automatic rifle to shoot. She fired hitting one of the unfriendlies in the chest. She had turned off all emotions at this point. Her heart was hardened with thick ice. It was better this way. At least she didn__'__t have to think about all the lives she took. When she got back from her first tour in Iraq, she couldn__'__t sleep without seeing all of them. Over time she__'__d learnt to turn it off, it was the only way she could live with herself. Will looked over her shoulder to see the dark brown eyes of her best friend, Raven, crouched beside her. They__'__d first met in training camp four years before. _

"_Will! C__'__mon, we gotta get outta here!__" __Raven urged. __"__This place is about to turn into the fuckin__' __Fourth of July,__" __there had been an airstrike ordered. She checked the stopwatch on her wrist, there was only five minutes left to get away. Willow nodded and they got up from behind the car. She fired as they ran. She blocked out the sound of wailing and kept running. She__'__d made it around the corner and down an alley. This was just outside where the strike would hit. She looked around frantically to find she was all alone. Raven was nowhere to be found. The rest of her platoon must__'__ve gotten separated once the five minute mark came. _

"_Rae!__" __She called out. __"__Rae! Where are you?__" __She sprinted out of her safe zone and down the road. She kept calling her friend__'__s name. She made it about three quarters of a __kilometre__ down the road when she heard a cry coming from the ground. She looked down to see Raven laying on the ground. Her uniform was stained red as the blood spread across. It contrasted with her tanned skin. _

"_W-W-W,__" __her words sputtered as the blood spewed from her mouth. _

"_C__'__mon, Rae. Gotta get you outta here,__" __Willow bent down and threw Raven over her shoulders. She grunted under the weight but kept going down the road. Her heart pounded in her chest. She__'__d been keeping a mental clock in her brain, she had a little over a minute to make it. Her legs screamed as every muscle worked twice as hard, but she couldn__'__t stop. Not until they were both safe. _

_ They were a few feet from the alley when she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. She collapsed on the ground. The blood started seeping through the front of her shirt. She let out a howl, turning her gun and shooting blindly. Raven coughed next to her. Adrenaline pumped in her veins as Will grabbed her friends shoulders and dragged her deep inside the alley. There were a few boxes that would provide cover for them. Ten seconds. Willow covered her head as the sound of the loud boom pierced her ears. Will reached on her side and pulled out the walkie. __She looked up to see Raven__'__s eyes were closed. _

"_Raven! Stay with me. C__'__mon Rae, don__'__t you be givin__' __up on me!__" __She was tapping her friend__'__s face. Her eyes opened but they looked glazed. Raven__'__s breath was shallow at best. Will lifted her walkie. She didn__'__t have long. __"__This is Private Willow Connor, we have a man down. I repeat, we have a man down and requestin__' __immediate assistance, over,__" __no one answered on the other edge. __"__Hello? Can anybody hear me, over?__" __All there was on the other end was static. __"__Dammit!__" __She cursed before turning back to Raven. _

"_W-W-W,__" __the words seemed to fall off her lips._

"_Don__'__t talk. I__'__m gonna get you help. You__'__re gonna be just fine,__" __even as she said it, she didn__'__t believe it. Willow swallowed the sob that was building. _

"_W-Will,__" __She finally managed to get out. __"__I-It__'__s o-okay,__" __in their friendship it had always been Rae who took care of Will. She__'__d reminded her of Charlotte. Will realized what the statement meant. Even as she was bleeding out, she__'__d still made sure that Willow was alright. This made her finally break down. Raven closed her eyes again._

"_Rae! Rae!__" __She sobbed. __"__C__'__mon, you can__'__t leave. Don__'__t go. Please, I need you.__" __She kept pleading to anyone that would listen but it was too late. Raven Vasquez, her best friend, was dead. _

Willow woke up with a start. Her heart was pounding loudly in her chest. Her shoulder, that had long since healed started throbbing. That day, she'd broken her collar bone. The bullet shot and fractured the bone. Her carrying her friend had broken it cleanly. It only hurt when she had that particular dream. She looked around the unfamiliar room. Where the hell was she? Oliver, where was Oliver? She frantically searched the bed, trying to find her knife. It wasn't there. Fear and confusion filled her. She had no clue where she was or where he was. She tried to get out of bed but found herself gasping as the pain radiated from her thigh. She looked down to see the bloodied bandage around her bare thigh. Then she remembered running in the forest and seeing that guy with the crossbow. Charlotte, she remembered her sister. Her older sister was alive, Hannah was alive. They -they being Oliver and Willow- were looking for them. She'd finally found her family. Except now, he was missing. She had to find him.

"Hi," a voice came from across the room. Willow turned to see an incredibly thin brown haired woman standing in the doorway. She had some clothes tucked under her arm and was carrying a plate of food. Willow's mouth watered and her stomach grumbled and the sight. She hadn't eaten in days. "My name's Lori. I'm a friend of your sister's. Charlotte is just dealing with something. She asked me to come and bring you some clothes. There's a shower but Hershel, the man who owns this farm, wants you to wait until the bandage comes off. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," The woman seemed nice enough.

"You didn't. Been up for a while. I'm Willow, though I guess you already knew that," the woman, Lori, let out an amused smile and walked over to the chair next to her bed. She placed the food on her bedside table and the clothes on the chair. "Thank you, Lori," the woman smiled before leaving the room.

Willow greedily devoured the plate of food. She didn't even care what it was. The last time she'd eaten had been half a can of peaches with Oliver. Her heart tightened at the thought of him. She slid herself out of bed and slowly stood up. She pushed back the pain coming from her leg. She kept reminding herself that she'd had worst. Her body was littered with scars from her time in the army. She grabbed the clothing off the chair. There was a grey tank top matched with a purple plaid shirt as well as a pair of jeans as well as a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. Both ensembles screamed Charlotte. A stick of deodorant fell out of the pile. She almost cried in joy. She'd run out of it three days ago and was starting to smell just as rank as a teenage boy hitting puberty. Her skin was tanned though she figured it was mostly dirt, what she wouldn't to for a shower. There was one here but she was no rookie when it came to injuries and bandages. She knew she couldn't get it wet. She'd just have to wait. Willow stripped off her grimy clothing and changed into the fresh pair of sweatpants and t-shirt. She could see the night spilling through the window. She never felt rested anymore. Will lay back down on the bed, staring up at the roof and started counting the little dots. Eventually, she fell back asleep.

* * *

Hannah didn't sleep at all again. Every time she closed her eyes, horrible images kept filling her mind. The walker in the pink dress crawling closer but Hannah didn't have a knife this time. Every move she made felt like she was swimming in molasses. She woke up just before the walker could sink its teeth in her calf. When she closed her eyes again, she was surrounded by geeks. Only they weren't just any, they were her family and her friends. She would sob and try to scream but the moans were too loud. She begged them to stop as their teeth tore into her skin. After the last dream, she didn't fall back asleep. She waited until the sun was mostly risen to get out of bed. Her mom slept soundly as Hannah got ready for the day. She stepped outside to see Dale on the roof, just like every morning.

"Good morning, Hannah," he greeted upon spotting her. She waved at him from below. All she wanted to do now was see her aunt. She had to make sure Willow was actually here. It seemed so surreal. There had been so much death and disaster since all this started, Hannah found it hard to believe that good things could happen. Her Granny was probably shaking her head and tapping her foot in disapproval from above. She'd probably scold her for even thinking such a thing. If there was something her grandmother never lacked of, it was hope. Besides, her mom said that Aunt Will was resting. She would get to go later.

She climbed up the ladder to sit with Dale like she often did. It wouldn't be long before everyone woke up and the search for Sophia would commence. Hannah wanted to go looking for her friend. She wanted to find Sophia and then they could surprise Carl. He would be so happy if they'd find her. She, too, would be ecstatic. The pink in the early morning sky was fading now. Hannah guessed it was probably around eight am. She could hear the hustle and bustle of camp picking up. She got off the roof when breakfast was being served. Hershel had given them some real eggs. She hadn't had actual eggs in so long. They tasted much better than the powdered ones she and T-Dog had made at the CDC. Even if they'd only been here a day, Hannah loved the farm. It wasn't that she felt entirely safe, Hannah doubted she ever would, but it reminded her of the life that was left behind. She'd spent so much time on the Andrews' family farm growing up.

Shortly after breakfast, everyone started breaking off to do their chores. Hannah noticed that Lori wasn't awake yet. Carol and her mom were doing laundry. She'd asked if Hannah had wanted to come as well but she'd declined. Hannah had other things on her agenda. She watched, making herself look occupied by dipping some dishes in the boiled water, the adults that were gathered around the hood of Carol's car. They were planning their search for the day. She listened intently as one of Hershel's people, Glenn had told her his name was Jimmy, asked to go with them. She could tell from the way he nervously looked down that he was lying to Rick. Hershel hadn't given his approval, Rick had to see that. Hannah was twelve and she could tell. Maybe he just didn't want to see it. She listened to the group talking. Daryl pointed to something on the map and said he was going to get a horse, it would look over the whole grid. T-Dog made the joke about his Chupacabra. Hannah smirked at them, still keeping a close eye until finally Daryl broke away and headed to the stables. Hannah dropped her dishes and trailed after him.

Daryl had made it to the stables when he'd finally turned towards her.

"What d'ya want?" He asked

"I want t-to c-come with y-you," she found herself stuttering nervously.

"Why?"

"I want to help." She'd finally gotten her voice under control. Maybe this whole talking thing wasn't so hard.

"No." He'd said it so sharply, Hannah recoiled at the firmness of his voice.

"Why not? You let me come last time," she reminded.

"That was when there were more of us," Hannah gave him a I-can-see-through-your-bullshit gaze. "Look, I can't be lookin' for Sophia 'n worryin' 'bout you."

"You don't have to worry. I can take care of myself."

"No, you can't. You're just a little girl," she recoiled at his comment. She wasn't a kid. "You can't even get by without that thing in your ear. All that's standin' 'tween you 'n a hungry walker is a piece of plastic," Hannah looked down, embarrassed. She should've known that she was useless. She could feel the tears filling her eyes. She turned and walked back to the camp, not bothering to look back at Daryl. One thing was clear, Hannah was like the defective toy. She was always just put aside, never played with.

**Aw, poor Hannah! I am so sorry for not updating sooner. I meant to get this out last week but I was not in the right frame of mind for writing (a lot of personal stuff). I'm hoping to get the newest chapter up this weekend. I'm really excited to do Daryl during the Chupacabra episode. It will be a turning point in the Daryl/ Hannah relationship as well as the Daryl/Charlotte relationship. Anyway, please review. Let me know what you thought of the chapter.**


	23. Chapter 23

While she walked back to camp, Hannah couldn't help but feel two feet tall. All her life she'd been told she could do anything. Her mom always made sure that Hannah knew that she could be anything in this world. She'd believed that for so long. Now she knew that she was nothing. She could barely speak and her hearing was only part time. She was useless to the group. Nothing but a small naive little girl. She was - what was the word? A liability. That's right. Hannah was a liability. Her mom was wrong, she couldn't be anything she wanted to be. She was nothing but a burden to the group.

Hannah found her way back to camp. She avoided eye contact with anyone who was there and headed straight for her tent. Once inside, she collapsed on her cot and let the tears fall. It took her this long to realize the truth, that she was nobody special. She wasn't important. Her own father just saw her as another dead girl. That's what hurt most. Hannah wanted to get to know him but he obviously didn't. He didn't want to get attached to someone who would most likely die.

* * *

Charlotte had seen Hannah walk by. She was hanging up laundry with both Lori and Carol and discussing dinner plans. They were going to make potatoes and beef. She was excited over the fact that she would use an actual stove and oven to cook and they wouldn't eat another can of godforsaken beans or squirrel roasted over a fire. They had some time before they would go prepare dinner. Charlotte was just about to go check on Will when her daughter ran by and straight to their tent.

"What was that about?" Lori asked after Hannah passed them by.

"I have no idea," Charlotte responded before walking away from the women and to her tent.

She stepped inside and heard the sound of her daughter quietly sniffling. Charlotte wondered why her baby was crying.

"Hannah, baby what's wrong?" She sat on the edge of the bed as Hannah's head lifted. She rubbed away the tears from her eyes. Her hair was sticking to her wet face. "C'mon, sweetheart you can tell me," she urged. Hannah took a deep breath.

'_I__'__m useless.__' _ Charlotte felt her face drop. She was completely taken aback by the statement.

'_Who told you that?__' _Whoever it was, would be getting a firm kick in the ass.

'_It doesn__'__t matter because it__'__s true.__' _

'_Hannah, that is the furthest thing from true.__' _Hannah scoffed at the comment. Where was this attitude coming from? Hannah had thought of herself like this in years.

'_If it wouldn__'__t be for this thing in my ear, I would be walker food.__' _Every word felt like a punch to the gut. _'__I__'__m nothing to this group.__'_

'_That__'__s bullshit.__' _She rarely swore in front of her but she had to prove her point._ '__You mean the world to me, Glenn, and T-Dog. You__'__re Carl__'__s friend. And Daryl would protect you from everything.__' _Hannah scoffed once again.

'_Carl__'__s my friend because there are no kids around. Sophia__'__s gone and Carol can__'__t even look at me.__' _Charlotte had seen that, she'd have to talk to Carol about that. She could somewhat understand what Carol was feeling but that didn't give her the right to take it out on Hannah._ '__Daryl? Daryl does not care about me.__' _Charlotte tilted her head in curiosity at the last part. She knew that he cared.

'_What makes you say that?__' _

'_He told me that I couldn__'__t get by without the CI.__' _Charlotte didn't understand what she was saying. Daryl couldn't be that cruel, could he? She reminded herself of all the things he'd said to her the day he'd left. When he wanted to, he could be. As Hannah continued to cry in her lap, Charlotte's spine went cold. She never should've let him back into their lives. She was wrong about him, Daryl was still the same asshole he had been twelve years ago. She'd thought she'd seen a change in him but he was still the same man that broke her heart. She never wanted this. She feared that he would hurt Hannah the same way he did her. The next time she saw him, she'd tear him a new one.

"Now you listen to me, Hannah Lenore Connor," at this her daughter lifted her head. Her sad blue eyes peered up. Charlotte only ever used Hannah's middle name when it was serious. "You are not useless. You're strong and kind and beautiful. You are everythin' to me. You are the most important thing to me and the best thing I've ever done," she hoped that would be enough.

* * *

Daryl's head throbbed from being thrown off that damn horse. He looked over and saw his arrow sticking out of his side. If he ever found that horse, he'd shoot it.

"Son of a bitch," He cursed before getting up. The arrow wobbled causing pain to radiate all over his body. He tore off his shirtsleeves and tied them around his waist attempting to keep the arrow in place. Pulling out the arrow wasn't ideal since it could mean him losing more blood. He'd get the old man, Hershel, or Charlie to look at it once he got back. He tucked Sophia's doll in his belt loop next to the dead squirrel. The bushes to his left began rustling. He knew it wasn't the little girl. She would've seen him by now and come out. He quickly reached for a stick and started digging in the murky water to find his crossbow. It felt like forever before he pulled it up. Perhaps it was because his heart was loudly pounding in his ears making one second feel like an eternity. He started the climb back up the ridge.

The pain caused his vision to spot but he still kept going. He had to make it back. He'd found the first clue that Sophia was still out there. He'd be damned if he didn't get it back. They would find the little girl. He could pick up a trail and they would find her. Daryl grunted as he reached for another tree branch.

"C'mon, you've done half. Stop bein' such a pussy," he told himself just before his grip started slipping. _Shit! _He tried to steady himself but was sent flying back down the cliff. He smacked every rock on the way down. He stayed conscious until he smashed his head on the stone creek bed.

* * *

Willow couldn't sit here anymore, not when she didn't know what was happening. She'd woken up about thirty minutes before and started feeling antsy. Yes, her sister was here and her niece but she didn't know the rest of these people. Maybe they were trapped here. It made sense, Charlotte was never this nice to her. It's like on the old television shows were people act differently in order to send a message that they were actually being held captive. The sooner she figured it out, the sooner she could start looking for Oliver. She changed out of the sweatpants and into the other outfit. After, Willow limped to the door and out of the room. She made it half-way down the hall when a young short brown haired woman halted her.

"My dad said for you not to move," she protested. Will huffed in frustration, she knew her own body and knew better than anyone what she could or couldn't do.

"No offence, kid, but I ain't the type to just sit 'round."

"You were shot," the girl reminded

"Oh, barely. Trust me, this is nothin'. I've had worst," Will stated before walking past her.

She slowly walked down the steps of the house and almost made it out the front door when she saw a small boy laying in the bed. Though, that wasn't the only thing that had stopped her. Sitting in the chair next to him was Lori. The woman was sniffling quietly. By the looks of it, this must be her son. He looked so pale and small in the bed. She wondered what happened to him. A chilling thought crossed her mind, what if the kid had been bit? She didn't know these people or how they reacted to loved ones being turned. For all she knew, this was how they coped. If it was, she was going to get her sister and niece out of here as fast as she could. Willow knocked lightly on the door, she stayed in the doorway not wanting to get any closer. Lori's head snapped up.

"Oh, hi," she wiped under her eyes.

"Everythin' alright?" Willow questioned.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Lori stated.

"Who's that?" She gestured to the sleeping boy. She couldn't help it. She had to know if was going to reanimate and start eating them.

"My son, Carl. He, uh, he got shot," her voice chocked up a bit as she explained. She tried not to visibly relax.

"Sorry to hear that. He gonna be okay?" Willow asked.

"Yeah, he's going to be just fine. Should be up on his feet in no time." Her answer made no sense. Lori was crying, and they weren't happy tears. She knew what those looked like.

"Then you crying isn't just 'bout him is it?" Lori stayed silent. "Look, I don't know you, 'n I ain't the type to give advice but whatever it is that's buggin' you, you should talk 'bout it to someone. It really does help," Willow stated. She knew from experience that it did. With that, she exited the room. She had to find her sister and her niece. Once she knew they were fine, she'd go after Oliver. Like she'd told Lori, it always helps to talk about it. Oliver was the person she would always talk to. Her heart lurched just at the thought of him. She found herself twirling the ring on her finger. She missed him. She would find him, even if it killed her.

Willow limped out the door into a huge field. It seemed like every other farm land she'd ever visited. Big white house with a wrap around porch, barn a little ways away, stables, the only difference from the ones she'd recently seen were the lack of undead (she and Oliver debated on what to call them one night, he refused to call them Dick-Wads, though she still saw it as a viable option) wandering about. This land seemed completely untouched. She saw some tents and an old RV gathered by the big tree not too far from the house. Willow assumed that was where she could probably find her sister. She started towards the tents thinking of her family. It had been years since Hannah had seen her. Willow feared her niece wouldn't even recognize her.

* * *

Daryl couldn't see straight when his eyes opened up again. He could vaguely make out the shape of someone towering over him. It was a man with a bald head. He looked familiar. No one at camp had a bald head. His vision started to narrow in. He could see the brown eyes. It couldn't be him.

"Why don't you take that arrow out, dummy? You can bind your wound better," Daryl's vision cleared to see his brother standing there.

"Merle," he groggily said. If there was anyone who would be taunting him while he lay bleeding at the bottom of a ravine, it would be his brother.

"What's goin' on here? You takin' a siesta or somethin'?" He let out a laugh at the end. Merle always laughed at his own jokes.

"Shitty day, bro," which of course was an understatement.

"Aw, like me to get you a pillow? Maybe rub your feet?" His brother teased.

"Screw you."

"Mhm-hm, you're the one screwed by the looks o' it," he pointed out. "All them years I spent tryin' to make a man outta you, this's what I get? Lyin' in the dirt like a used rubber. You're gonna die out here, brother. And for what?"

"A girl. They lost a little girl."

"You got a thing for lil' girls now?" Merle asked

"Shut up."

"'Cause I noticed you ain't lookin' for ole Merle no more," he accused.

"Tried like hell to find you, bro," he tried to reason.

"Like hell you did. You split man, first chance you got," he kept going. Merle might've been right. Daryl felt guilty that he stopped looking for his brother.

"Other things came up," Daryl explained.

"Like what?" Merle scoffed.

"A little girl, Hannah. She's my kid," he stated. Merle bursted out laughing.

"Damn lil' brother, you 'n sugar momma?" His brother sounded almost impressed, "Shoulda known the way you eye-fucked her that first day at camp."

"Shut up," Daryl demanded but his brother kept laughing.

"'Course you're the daddy of the retarded one. Fuck, can't do nothin' right."

"She ain't retarded," he growled at his brother.

"So what? You're just gonna leave your brother b'hind for a lil' girl 'n a pair o' tits that didn' tell you 'bout your kid?"

"Didn' leave ya 'hind. You lit out. We went back for you. Rick 'n I, we did right by you," Daryl weakly reasoned.

"This the same Rick who cuffed me to the rooftop in the first place? Forced me to cut off my own hand?" Daryl's eyes drifted to his brother's right hand. It was still there. Merle wasn't here. He was still missing. "You his bitch now? Or are ya hers?"

"I ain't nobody's bitch," he countered. Daryl was his own man. He didn't come to the beck and call of Rick or Charlie. He was alone.

"You're a joke is what you are, playin' errand boy to a bunch of pansy-asses, niggers 'n democrats. You ain't nothin' but a freak to them. Redneck trash. That's all you are. Even to your own kid. She don't see you as nothin' but an asshole. I got news for you, son. One day, they gonna scrape you off their heels like you was dog shit. That girl 'n her momma are gonna see you for who you really are 'n they'll go runnin'," Merle told him. "It's why you haven't talked to her innit? You're 'fraid you're gonna be jus' like him. I'll tell you somethin' lil brother, ya can't change who you are." he said. The worst part was that he was right. Daryl was just like his dad was. "C'mon, get up on your feet 'fore I have to kick your teeth in," Merle threatened. He started kicking Daryl.

It was the groans that stirred him out of the hallucination. Daryl woke up to see a walker trying to bite his foot. He kicked it off and scrambled away from it. He reached and grabbed a broken tree branch. The geek started back towards him. Daryl braced himself before leaping and tackling the walker to the ground. He slammed the stick in his it's skull once, twice, three times before stabbing the caved in skull, pinning it to the ground. He fell back, his heart pounded as the adrenaline coursed through his veins. He looked up to see another dead bastard creeping towards him. Daryl reached for his crossbow. He groaned as he pulled the arrow out of his side. Pulling the string back was so easy when he wasn't weakened by blood loss. When he heard the click of the string locking in place, Daryl fastened the arrow and waited until the geek got close enough before pulling the trigger. If he missed, he was beyond screwed. The arrow lodged itself in the geek's skull and it fell to the ground, dead. Relived, Daryl caught his breath and lay on the ground. He was alive and they were dead.

Daryl waited for his pulse to lessen before he got up. He kept thinking of his brother's words. _You can__'__t change who you are._ He kept his distance from Hannah, and he'd been right to do so. The way he just blew her off this morning, he'd pretended not to see her crushed face before she left the stables. He was a shit father, just like his dad was. _That girl __'__n her momma are gonna see you for who you really are,__'__n they__'__ll go runnin__'__. _Better to keep far away from them. That way he can't hurt them. He was nothing but redneck trash. He saw the way they looked at him, like he was no better than the devil.

"Son of a bitch was right," Daryl said to the air.

If they all thought he was nothing but an inbred hick, that's what he'd be. He pulled off his shirt and made a bandage. He pressed it to his wound and tied his sleeves around his waist. He sat on the log and cut open the dead squirrel and started eating the raw meat inside. Blood stained his beard. Good, adds to the image. He looked down at the corpses and an idea came to mind. He pulled out the laces from one of the corpses shoes and proceeded to slice off each bodies ears. He tied them around his neck. Trophies, those would add shock value. Daryl, then, started to climb again.

He was halfway, muscles aching, head throbbing. He knew that if he fell again, he wouldn't be able to get back up. There were crows cawing from up above.

"Please, don't feed the birds," Merle's voice came from the top of the hill. "What's the matter Darylina? That all you got in ya? Throw away that purse and climb," he ordered.

"I liked you better when you was missin'," he complained.

"C'mon, don't be like that. I'm on your side," Merle stated. Daryl scoffed at the statement.

"Yeah, since when?"

"Hell, since the day you were born, baby brother," he stated. "Someone had to look after your worthless ass."

"You never took care o' me. Talk a big game but you was never there. Hell, you ain't here right now. Guess some things never change," he realized how it would look to see Daryl talking to himself. Not that he cared.

"What? Like you're there for your kid?" Merle antagonized. Daryl stayed silent looking for the next rock or root he could use to climb. "Mhm-hmm, t's what I thought."

"You'd best shut the hell up!" Daryl spat at him.

"Or what?" He mocked. "You're gonna come up here and shut my mouth for me? Ain't gonna change nothin'. You're still a shit father," he stated. "But, if it'll make you feel better, c'mon, kick off your boots 'n climb. Show me you ain't jus' a pussy like our daddy," he taunted. Daryl found the strength to pull himself up. He could see the ledge now. "C'mon, c'mon lil brother," Merle urged putting out his hand for Daryl to grab. "Grab your lil girl's hand," he said just as Daryl reached up and gripped the ground. With one final burst of energy, he pulled himself up to the top.

"Yeah, you'd better run!" He yelled out into nothing. Merle was gone, not that he'd ever been there in the first place. Daryl caught his breath for a minute before starting the long trek back to the farm. If he ever found that horse, he'd be sure to cook it.

* * *

It had taken Hannah quite some time to be able to leave her tent. She and her mother had sat on the cot for a long time before her mom had to go help Carol and Lori with dinner. They'd talked for a while and worked on Hannah's speech. Her mom said that speaking would soon be second nature to her. Whatever that meant. Hannah stepped out, fully intending to go hang out with Carl, since it was the only thing she could do. She crawled out of her tent with her drawing pad in hand. The warm sun hit her face. She guessed it was probably late August, early September. She would be starting junior high right about now. Probably in some new town where she wouldn't be known as the deaf stupid kid from a slutty mom. All the sudden, she remembered that she hated her town. She loved her house, but everything else she hated. Now, all she was, was the deaf kid who would probably be dead soon. She looked up to see Andrea sitting on top of the RV with the shotgun. When did they get back? Was Daryl back? Why did she care? It was obvious that he didn't care about her.

"Oh my god," an unfamiliar voice rang from behind her. Hannah turned and saw her aunt standing there. Her eyes widened at the sight. It had been so long since she'd last her. Aunt Willow looked older, maybe it was the bags under her dark brown eyes. Hannah rushed forward and wrapped her arms around her aunt. She missed her terribly. "Look at you! You've gotten so big!" She said after pulling away. Hannah smiled and the sound of her aunt's voice. Aunt Willow's was more hardened than her mother's was. It was still soft towards Hannah.

'_I can__'__t believe how much you have grown.__' _Her Aunt's signing was a bit sloppy, it had been years since she used it, but she still got the message across. _'__You are so beautiful.__'_

'_Thank you.__' _She signed. She didn't really know what to say anymore. It was awkward. They used to get along so well, what happened to that? That was when she noticed the ring on her finger.

"That's a pretty ring," she pointed out.

'_Thank you.__' _

"You don't have to sign if you don't want to. I can hear now," she stated nonchalantly. Aunt Willow's expression made her want to burst out laughing. She looked like someone had just told her that she got her Hogwarts letter, a mix of delight and surprise.

"Your momma got the implants?" Hannah nodded. "That's amazin'! How long ago?"

"Just before outbreak. We were in Atlanta and barely got out," she explained.

"Well, it's good that you-" Willow was cut off by the sound of Andrea calling out.

"Walker! Walker!" Hannah froze in horror. She and Aunt Will went closer to the RV. They saw the adults starting to panic around camp. Her aunt kept a tight grip on her. If she squinted past the fading sun's raise, she could see a distant figure limping towards the farm. She felt her heart start pounding.

"Just the one?" Shane asked.

"I bet I can nail it from here," Andrea stated.

"No, no Andrea. Put the gun down," Rick ordered. Why would Rick say that? Shooting it made sense. The farther away it is from camp, the better it is right?

"You'd best let us handle this," Shane stated. He came out of his tent with his shirt wide open.

"Shane, hold up. Hershel wants to deal with walkers," Rick countered. But getting rid of a walker now benefits them all, right?

"What for, man? We got in covered," Shane said as he, Glenn and T-Dog ran in the field carrying bats and axes. Rick groaned but took off after them. Hannah watched as the four man ran down the field. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Andrea lie down and position the rifle.

"Andrea, don't," Dale pleaded. He was right. Andrea couldn't shoot (she remembered the conversation that happened on the highway about how she didn't have gun training) as well as Shane or Rick. She could end up shooting one of their group.

"Back off, Dale."

What confused her was seeing the four of them halt right by the walker.

"What are they doin'?" Her aunt whispered. That was when a brand new sound, one that she'd never heard before, erupted in her ears. She covered her ears to no avail. It was like a loud crack of thunder. That was the only way to describe it. She'd read about thunder and this was how she described it. She knew it was a gun shot.

"No!" She heard Rick yelling from the field. Andrea got down from off the roof of the RV.

"Rick!" Lori yelled from the house.

"What on earth's goin' on out here?" Hershel demanded from behind her. Hannah was just confused of what was going on. Did Andrea miss and hit one of their group? She watched as they dragged a limp body towards the house. Hannah's eyes widened when she put two and two together. The only person that was missing was Daryl. Her fears were confirmed when Rick and Shane carried her father's bleeding body right by them.

"Dad!" She cried out, louder than she'd ever screamed before. At that moment, it didn't matter to her what he'd said. Even if he didn't care about her, she cared about him.

**I am so sorry for the late update! I know this sounds like a cop out answer but I really have been incredibly busy. I work at a summer camp and am gone for most days of the week. I try to get as much writing as I can when I'm home but I get distracted by other things. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I quite liked it. I hope I got Merle right. Please let me know what you thought. I would love to hear from you guys! **


End file.
